My Happy Ending
by Little-Red-Monkey
Summary: Two muggles suddenly turn up at Hogwarts out of the blue and and everyone is confused as to how it happened. Is it an accident or an evil plot from You-Know-Who? HD slash and a its bit cheesy!
1. Prologue Great Power

**Hate to Love**

**Prologue- Great Power**

The old ruin stood in the distance, dilapidated and deserted. No one ever ventured up to it, the rumours kept even the wildest of children away from its old rusty gates. The nearest anyone ever got was the hill about 10 miles from the lake, the ruin stood on the opposite bank, alone and mostly forgotten.

Willow Découverte however was a different kind of person. She sat with her twin brother Alex, on their beds each night discussing what the tale could be about the old ruin. She was fascinated by it, as she was about many other stories of old, deserted houses that seemed to haunt villages and towns across the globe.

Alex was interested, but not knowing what was lurking up there scared him more than he liked to admit.

"You're such a wimp Alex" Willow would tease him some nights when he told her she was just making up some stupid ghost stories to scare him "You're nearly 16 years old!"

Alex never rose to his sisters deliberate attempts to wind him up, he just rolled over and tried to sleep. Some nights however, it wasn't so easy to ignore her.

"I'm going to go up there one day" Willow would say into the darkness of their room. "I bet there are all sorts of things to find up there. And then we could come back and tell everyone what we found"

"I don't think that's a very good idea Wil. It could be dangerous"

"That's the fun part"

Willow never thought about the dangerous part until it was right there on top of her, looking her in the face and there was nothing she could do. It was always Alex that kept her out of such trouble, but Alex was going to have a hard time stopping her on this.

And that was why Alex found himself helping his sister to paddle across the lake in their fathers old fishing boat in the dead of night. The waves lapping at the sides, darkness pushing their little boat nearer and nearer to the old ruin that everyone else was too scared to even look at.

Alex had never been so scared in all his life.

**6 months earlier**

"That, my faithful servant, is the best plan I've heard yet"

"Thank you my lord" Lucius Malfoy bowed to his master, and smirked inwardly. He would have the upper hand over all the death eaters eventually. It would just be a matter of time.

"You have done well Lucius, you will be greatly rewarded if your plan works as well as you say it will"

"I am sure of its success my Lord"

Lucius turned to leave with a swipe of his cloak. His plan couldn't fail. Not like the others. And with Draco by his side nothing could stand in the way of the Dark Lords defeat of Dumbledore, Hogwarts, and Harry Potter himself.

With Draco by his side.

"Lucius"

He turned back just as he reached the large oak doors that decorated the far wall of the mansion.

"My Lord?"

"You understand that this will not be an easy task. Even with my full strength now regained I will struggle to undo what that old fool, Dumbledore has created for himself"

Lucius waited for his master to continue. He knew the pause was for dramatic effect and never dared to interrupt.

"Your son Lucius, he is the key. He holds a great power in his fingers"

"Draco will be an exceptionally powerful Wizard given the correct training" Lucius replied proudly. He may not love his son like he should, but he had great pride in the boy. He was like no other Malfoy, he was weak and prone to losing control, and this angered Lucius. But he still had pride in his only son and heir, and his immense power was something he could not afford to lose.

"Does Draco know anything of his power yet Lucius?"

"Nothing my Lord, all in good time"

"I think that time has come, you will owl your son at Hogwarts and appoint Severus as his tutor. I doubt I will be able to complete the task without him"

Lucius had hoped it would never come to this. His son may be powerful but who was Draco willing to share it with? Draco had never shown much interest in becoming a Death Eater like his father. He had never shown much interest in anything his father wanted him to, except beating that Potter boy at Quidditch.

Lucius doubted Draco would agree to helping someone he had no desire to follow, destroy his home for the past 5 years of his life.

He doubted his sons loyalty above anything else. He knew Dumbledore was a persuasive old coot and Draco was weak, easily swayed.

"I-I shall see to it my Lord" he bowed again and swept out of the large, darkened room.

He hoped that Draco would agree without much of a fuss. His plan was fool proof if Draco was still loyal to his family.

Lucius found his way through the eerie silent hallways of Malfoy manor without even thinking about where his destination was. He would write to Severus Snape and inform him of the situation. Snape was trustworthy. Snape would train Draco well. Maybe a bit of Dark Magic would shake Draco awake and make him see what the sensible path was to take. Lucius hoped.

Lucius was wrong.


	2. A Different Attitude

**Chapter 1- A Different Attitude**

"Are you sure you've eaten quite enough there Harry?"

"Can never have too much breakfast Mione, especially on Quidditch match days"

"Usually I would agree with you Harry, but throwing up over the other seeker doesn't necessarily mean he'll take pity on you and let you catch the snitch"

Ron was horrified.

"Harry doesn't need PITY Mione!" he was waving his spoon around and splatting Seamus with soggy bits of cereal.

They were at breakfast in the great hall as usual. It was a unusually bright autumn day and Harry was ready to get back on his broom.

"Harry barely ever loses a match! Pity?! Pfft"

"Yes Ron, we are all aware of Harry's talents but do you really have to attack me with your breakfast to prove your point?" Seamus was trying to control Ron's spoon waving with little success.

Harry just watched the familiar breakfast scene of his friends arguing with a small grin playing on his lips. Harry wasn't nervous, Harry was just hungry, but Hermione was always one to worry about unusual habits. Ron was always the one with complete confidence in Harry. Ron believed Harry always knew what he was doing, and Harry didn't like to break that trust. After all, it seemed the entire wizarding world had that same confidence in him as The-Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry may not always know exactly what he was doing, but he knew that he would always have people to guide him in the right direction.

Harry snapped out of his thoughtful trance when he noticed Draco Malfoy across the tables. He was chatting animatedly to Blaise Zabini who sat next to him, obviously fuming about some unjust punishment he had received or a grade that was too low for his liking because a frown was putting a dent in his graceful features. Blaise seemed uninterested and Draco soon realized this and continued to mutter quietly into his plate, his frown deepening.

Draco had grown up somewhat since first year. As an 11 year old Draco had been just like his father; obnoxious, spiteful and evil. He even had looked the same, blonde hair that was perfectly sculpted to his head, striking silver eyes that sparkled when inflicting pain and sharp pointed features. But Draco had changed in his 5 long years at Hogwarts and everyone was astonished at how different he had looked on their first day as 6th years.

His once slicked back hair was let loose to dangle about his face, his silver eyes still sparkled but they sparkled with a radiance nearly all the time, and not just when he was making someone angry or upset. His once pointed features had smoothed out making him easier on they eyes and much less...evil looking. Draco Malfoy was no longer an image of his father but something else. Something much different.

His personality had also changed dramatically over the summer. No one knew why, but Draco held back from provoking others as much as he could. He was quieter, less prominent in his house and seemed to draw back into the crowd.

Harry was even amazed to see that Draco hadn't once started a fight with him or any other Gryffindor for that matter. Not even Ron, who tried his very hardest to force Malfoy to insult him. Sometimes Draco fought back and it seemed he was back to normal but then he always managed to control himself at the last minute and walk away.

And now as Draco felt eyes on him and looked up into emerald pools of pity, Harry was sure that he didn't know Draco anymore. Draco wasn't evil. Who was he?

Draco looked up to see Harry looking at him, his spoon poised over his bowl, the other hand resting on his goblet. Draco would have usually sneered at him and made a cutting comment to get him to stop staring at him like that, but this year he told himself, was different.

Instead, Draco merely looked back to the contents of his plate and sighed. It wasn't just Draco that had changed for the better over the summer.

Draco knew about Potters bad childhood, he knew about the cupboard under the stairs, he knew about his Uncle and Aunt and had heard the horrible stories about that brute of a cousin he had, and so Draco knew when he looked at Harry he was glad to be back at Hogwarts. Draco thought Harry glowed when he arrived back at School for the first few weeks and right now that glow added to the beauty of the Gryffindor boy.

Harry was taller, darker and much more grown up. His hair was as unruly as ever but it was part of who Harry was and now looked more touchable than ever. His eyes had always been bright green and had always been something to admire about Harry. When you looked into them, you could read Harry like a book, everyone knew this. Harry had tanned over the summer and still held his colour which made his eyes stand out even more than usual. There was a difference about them this year though, they seemed somewhat empty, like something was missing.

"_Black" _Draco thought sadly to himself. He thought back over the events of last year, Sirius Blacks death must have hit Harry hard.

Draco looked back up from his plate and noticed Harry had turned back to Ron and was talking excitedly about the Match that afternoon against Slytherin.

Draco took the few minutes he had left before the golden Trio exited the Great Hall to notice Harry was now a handsome man, rather than a cute little boy.

"_Nice to see he's wearing some nice clothes for once" _Draco thought. He may not be allowed to provoke them out loud anymore but there was nothing stopping him in his head.

Harry was wearing muggle clothes that hugged him in all the right places. A tight black shirt and blue jeans showed off his toned body and Draco was pleased to see Harry finally had some taste.

_"Now all he needs to do is get Granger to fix his eyesight for him and he'd be sex on legs"_

Draco blinked as Harry left the hall. That cant be good. He knew his attitude towards the trio had to be different this year...but THAT different?

"I'm going slowly insane"Draco groaned audibly and pulled himself up from the table to follow Pansy and Blaise up to his common room.

This year was going to be tough.

* * *

Severus Snape drummed his fingers nervously on the arm of his seat as Dumbledore read over the letter from Lucius.

"You say this was sent this morning Severus?" Dumbledore didn't look up

"Yes Professor"

The office lapped back into stony silence as Dumbledore appeared to start back at the top and read over it once more.

"Very well Severus" Dumbledore looked up at him this time over his half moon spectacles and smiled "We shall do as Mr. Malfoy asks"

"But Pro-"

"Now, now Severus, I know what you are thinking but we cannot allow Lucius to think something is wrong. Besides, he is right. It is time for Draco to realize his full potential. He is a powerful weapon, we must make sure he is taught with the best intentions."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled like they usually did when he felt he was getting the better of someone and Snape couldn't help feeling reassured by this.

"Very well Professor"

"While we are at it Severus" Dumbledore continued, leaning back in his chair "We could begin training young Mr. Potter too. He also is in need of learning his full potential before the final battle and I cannot help feeling it isn't long now before that time is upon us"

Snape sighed and began to frown. The Potter boy. Of course.

Even though Snape detested Harry he couldn't deny that Dumbledore was right. Voldemort was now stronger and more powerful than ever and it was only a matter of time before he decided to strike. They needed to be prepared, and this meant Harry needed to start preparing himself.

"I will be glad to train them both Professor" he reluctantly replied after a few seconds.

"Excellent. I shall send them both a message tonight and they will begin on Monday evening after dinner. It will be up to you to arrange the meetings from then on. I trust you will tutor them well"

Dumbledore smiled then, and Snape knew this as his cue to leave.

"Might I suggest" Dumbledore added just as Snape opened the door "asking Professor Lupin for some assistance. I know he has some valuable knowledge that could come in useful for both boys, when the time comes."

"You seem intent on lumbering me with people I detest Headmaster" Snape growled, beginning to feel he was the unluckiest Wizard around "Couldn't I ask-"

"No Severus, Remus will do just fine" and Dumbledore turned to Fawkes and began to stroke him carefully.

"Goodnight Professor Snape" was all that he heard as he shut the door behind him and stormed quickly back to his office.

This year was going to be hell.

* * *

**A/N: Sod it all! I forgot about the authors note at the end of the first bit. Meh well, gives me an excuse to post this one doesn't it? Sorry it starts off really slow, but it gets better I promise, and I know exactly what's going to happen. Kind of exactly...a little bit. I have a general idea. **

**Ahem AAAAnyways, in reply to my hundreds of reviews _rolls eyes_, I know Lucius was sent to Azkaban but you cant really have a good slashy H/D story without him can you? **

**Anything else I want to say? Oh yeah, I'm thinking of updating weekly so every Saturday. And everyone has to go read fics by Slytherin Snakes coz she is the best and she just rules. **

**There we are. So in the next chapter there's Quidditch, a fight, aaand...a lot of explaining. Geez I need to work on interesting openings.**


	3. Working Together

**Chapter 2-working together**

Harry sat high above the pitch looking down on the action below him. Malfoy sat not far away, but slightly lower. The match had been going now for nearly an hour and Harry was getting restless, he had seen the snitch only once and a badly aimed bludger hit it just as Harry reached out to catch it. Draco had been close on his tail.

Slytherin were winning, but only by 20 points and it looked as if Gryffindor were about to score again. A great cheer rang out through the stadium as Ginny Weasely, Gryffindors new chaser, smashed the Quaffle through the hoop.

Harry knew Quidditch like the back of his hand. He could predict exactly what would happen seconds before it did just by watching the movements of the other players, he knew how the Snitch flew, how it dived just before veering up suddenly making a poor Seeker crash to the ground, how it liked to tease the Seekers by flying past them every now and again...Harry lived for Quidditch.

Harry lived to play Slytherin.

One thing had changed about Slytherin matches however. He had noticed it five minutes into the match. Draco wasn't trying to distract him with insults, which was strange. Usually Draco would be hovering next to him, spitting insults with every intake of breath. But now he sat away from Harry, not too far that he couldn't keep watch on him, but as far away as he could get without forfeiting the game.

Then he spotted it. The small flicker of gold that whizzed past the Slytherin stands, and he wasn't going to lose it this time.

By the time Draco had noticed what he was doing, Harry was hot on the Snitch's tail, weaving through the air in time with it, slowly gaining on it. It was almost hypnotic.

Draco shot towards him, concentrating only on the tiny blip of gold that zoomed around the pitch, holding the entire crowds attention. Draco drew level with Harry who was bent low on his broom, his eyes transfixed on the snitch in front.

The snitch dipped down slightly but neither seeker followed, they both knew that the Snitch was feinting and they followed it as it shot round the Slytherin hoop and continued in the opposite direction.

Harry closed in and began to reach out slowly for the Snitch. Draco frowned and watched as Harry, brow furrowed, leant forward to snatch it out of the air, and in doing so, snatching the game away from Draco again.

Draco HAD to beat Harry, at least once, only once. After that he didn't care how many times Harry beat him to the snitch as long as he had ONE win over him. Just one.

That's why, in desperation, Draco shook off his common sense what was left of his conscience and kicked out viciously at the end of Harry's broom. Harry yelped as his broom flung him sideways in the air and he batted the Snitch towards Draco. Just as Draco attempted to catch the snitch, Harry toppled off his broom and stuck out his hand to grab the first thing it came into contact with. That just so happened to be Draco's foot.

Harry's weight pulled Draco sideways with him and they both began to plummet to the ground, the snitch forgotten – lost in the chaos that erupted when Harry and Draco fell.

It wasn't a long fall, they had both fallen further in their time at Hogwarts but with someone landing on top of you it hurt a hell of a lot more. Draco fell on top of Harry just after he made contact with the ground which winded him anyway, now Harry could barely see, black dots swimming in front of his eyes, just on the edge of consciousness.

Harry's top half was suddenly pulled upwards by his collar. Draco had hold of him and was hissing at him

"You complete idiot Potter! I nearly had it, for once I nearly had it and you RUINED it" Draco shook Harry slightly which made the dots swim faster in front of his face. Harry rolled his eyes back in his head and shut them trying to close his mind off from his surroundings but Draco shook him more violently and his eyes shot back open.

"What's the matter with you Potter? Cant take a small fall like that? I would have thought you'd have more strength in you. Obviously you're losing your touch"

"Not...with a great...oaf like...you falling on me." Harry wheezed, slowly regaining the air that was knocked so forcefully from him.

"You're the bloody oaf Potter. Honestly, did you HAVE to take me with you? Or cant you do anything by yourself?"

"Get....off me...Malfoy"

"Always got to have someone to help you do everything. Now you need me to help you wind yourself so everyone will come crawling over, crying about how your beautiful shell has been damaged by that evil Slytherin."

"I'm...warning you Malfoy!"

"Sorry Potter but I cant take credit this time. You'll have to get someone else to bloody you up for attention"

Harry struck then, finding his energy he swung his fist at Draco connecting with the side of his face with a loud crack. Draco fell beside Harry and he was able to pull himself up and grab Draco by the front of his Quiddich robes. Lifting him to his feet Harry swung again but Draco was too quick and ducked and Harry punched thin air. Draco tackled Harry back to the floor and fought back causing his head to hit the floor beneath him. Harry groaned and brought his foot up to Draco's chest. Harry kicked him off and stood up once more, only to be restrained from lashing out again by Madam Hooch.

"Mr. Potter what DO you think you're doing?" she had him by the back of his robes and was flinging him backwards and forwards. Harry suddenly felt very lightheaded and stumbled forwards onto his knees.

"Mr. Malfoy as well, you two, honestly. You're both going straight to the headmaster. Your fighting MUST be controlled."

"I think Harry needs to see Madam Pomfrey, he looks a little green" Ginny said as she landed next to the scene.

"That's envy that is" Draco replied, standing up and brushing himself off "Cant stand the fact I nearly beat him for once"

"Only because you cheated Malfoy!"

"You will both go to the hospital wing and then straight up to Dumbledore. If you cant stop fighting we may have to stop one or both of you from participating in matches against each other"

Madam Hooch stood Harry up and supported his weight while Ginny took the other side. They carted him off to the hospital wing with Draco limping closely behind, his nose bloody and his pride severely dented.

* * *

Draco came out worse than Harry after all that with a bloody nose, a sprained left wrist and right ankle. Harry had a bad case of concussion but other than that he was unharmed. Draco's punches had been feeble, usually he would have put all his remaining energy into trying to crack Harry's face, but this time he had barely made a mark.

Harry of course, hadn't held back and he had begun to feel guilty when he saw the state he had left Malfoy in when they both sat in silence in Dumbledore's office nearly an hour later.

Madam Pomfrey refused to heal Draco's face with magic, she had healed his wrist and ankle perfectly but decided it was best to let Draco suffer the less painful wounds for his behavior out on the pitch. His eye was turning a nasty shade of purple and his nose was still bleeding a little, Harry had just got off with a slight headache.

Dumbledore sat in front of them looking at them with amusement written all over his features. Both boys were never expecting him to yell and throw detention at them but they never expected him to find this FUNNY!

"Now Mr. Malfoy, what did we say at the beginning of the year?"

"I know Professor, sorry"

"I never expected you to last this long, if you want to know the truth" he chuckled making Draco scowl at him. Harry was just confused, what were they talking about? He rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Its not my fault Potter is an insufferable-"

"Now, now Mr. Malfoy, you will have to try and control your temper better. Especially since you will be working with Harry a lot closer as of Monday"

Both boys snapped their heads up and gave Dumbledore a look which meant _'My arse I'm going to work closely with him!' _only Draco was stupid enough to voice his opinion.

"Draco! We agreed that if you were helping the Order in the battle against Voldemort you would be co operative and not try and do what YOU thought was best. Especially not for yourself!"

"What? Malfoy and the Order in the same sentence? You CANT be on OUR side!" Harry was completely astounded. He had always assumed Draco was pure evil and that he would follow his father in becoming a Death Eater. Everyone had thought that was the way things went.

"What is it Potter? Cant have a Slytherin like me muscling in on your little club?" Draco spat, clearly irritated at Harry's surprise.

"No! Of course not!" Harry replied turning to him "We just always assumed that...that..."

"That what? That I'd do what my daddy told me and bow down to some crack pot in an expensive robe? Please Potter, I thought you knew me better than that!"

"Does your father know?"

"Don't be an idiot Potter" Draco sighed turning back to face Dumbledore, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Mr. Malfoy still thinks Draco will join the ranks of Death Eaters, and just this morning sent Professor Snape an owl with instructions to train him for such an event, behind my back of course" Dumbledore never showed much of his dislike for anyone and this time was no different. He just smiled and unfolded the parchment with Lucius' italic script on it and handed it over to Draco.

_Severus,_

_It is time for Draco to begin his training as we were instructed to do at our last gathering. I trust I do not need to remind you of what I am writing about. _

_There will be a great use of this training if it is satisfactory. All will be explained at our next meeting. _

_Yours,_

_Lucius Malfoy_

"Training? But my father already taught me all the unforgivables-"Draco was cut off when Dumbledore raised his hand.

"I'm sorry to say I haven't been very honest with you Draco, but you must understand why. Telling you the truth would have endangered our chances at winning this war and I was never about to do that."

Harry watched this exchange with interest. He had a feeling he was about to learn exactly who Draco was, who he had always been.

"Now I feel, as you have decided to join the Order, I have an obligation to tell you the truth"

"Is this one of those meetings where you tell me about some magical power I have that's really special and I never knew about it and now that I'm old enough I have to learn how to use it?"

Harry couldn't help but smile. He had enough experience of meetings like that to know how it felt.

"Not **A** magical power Draco." Dumbledore seemed just as amused "but magical powers far greater than the ones you already knowingly possess. A power so great that it may be some of the most powerful magic I have ever come across."

Draco's jaw dropped, followed quickly by Harry's.

"Wait hang on just a second" Draco found his voice and concentrated on keeping it level and at its normal pitch to hide his surprise. Unfortunately it was a little too late for that "are you saying, that I'm more powerful than...than...Voldemort?"

"Quite possibly yes, but we shall have to test it with-"

"So...if I were to be trained, and got really powerful...I could just waltz into wherever he is and kill him without batting an eyelid?" Draco's lips were turning up at the corners. Forget Quidditch, beating Harry at his one goal in life was a million times better!

"I'm the only one who can kill him" Harry whispered into his lap, shutting his eyes against his confusion and torment of being reminded so forcefully of the prophecy he had learnt only last year. Just after Sirius had...had...

"You cant do everything you know Potter, let someone else have a bit of the spotlight for a change" Draco sneered, he was really beginning to like this idea.

"Harry is right Draco"

OK, he wasn't supposed to AGREE with him...

"To cut a long story short, Harry is the only person alive that can defeat Voldemort. But luckily for us, Draco isn't the only powerful young wizard we have on our side" Dumbledore's eyes twinkled their usual twinkle at this statement.

"Oh I get it, this is one of THOSE meetings" Draco said flailing his arms in the air "The one where you break some great news to one person, get them all excited but then go and ruin it by breaking even better good news to the person he's sitting next to"

"I would say this news is more on a par with yours Draco" Dumbledore chuckled turning to Harry who had opened his eyes and was now staring blankly at the floor.

"I don't think I can take much more news about this war" Harry grumbled. Draco smirked at his discomfort.

"You just cant hack it that I'm more powerful than you, Potter"

"Actually Draco, it would appear that Harry is your match. And when I said you were more powerful than Voldemort, I meant that you would be only with years of training and experience. You are both still young, but together, the power you can both create will be much stronger than Voldemort knows and is willing to recognize" Dumbledore's tone turned grave "As is the power that you can create paired with Voldemort, and this is why he has sent the order for you to begin training"

"He wants to use me" Draco suddenly realized what this was all about. He had never thought that his decision about which side to chose would be so important, he was starting to really appreciate the fact he hadn't known.

"So what you're saying is, if we fight Voldemort together we can beat him easily" Harry summed up what Dumbledore was taking his time to explain.

"It will never be easy Harry" Dumbledore said gravely "But together you will be more likely to succeed"

"Voldemort must have a plan!" Draco suddenly stood up after a few minutes of silence between the three

"Oh isn't he quick?"

"Shut it Potter! I-"

"He does have a plan, yes." Dumbledore interrupted before it turned into another shouting match between the two. "And we will be needing to find out what this plan is"

"That's where I come in right?" Draco sighed, feeling the weight already placed on his shoulders beginning to weigh rather a lot more.

"I would not place you in unnecessary danger Draco. For the moment we shall begin to train you as we see fit for our own purpose, having your father think it is for HIS purpose. That is your part for now. We shall leave it up to Professor Snape to do the spying for the time being." Dumbledore stood from his relaxed position in his chair and walked round to the other side of his desk.

"And Potters part?"

"Harry will need to be trained as well! And that is why I have appointed Professors Snape and Lupin to be your tutors. Your first session will be on Monday evening after dinner."

Neither Draco OR Harry was happy about this arrangement. Not only would they have to train with their rivals but with their teacher rivals as well. Neither thought these training sessions would achieve much but no one said anything and Dumbledore offered them a Lemon drop each as a way of letting them know the meeting was over.

Draco exited the office first, and Dumbledore quietly called Harry back for one last word of advice

"Remember Harry, he is not your enemy any longer. Treat him as your equal, as he has been trying to do all year. I know it will be difficult, but this is the best way forward. We cant have our partners at each others throats can we?" and he smiled.

Harry smiled back and left his office with a lot on his mind.

When he reached his common room he found everyone was now in bed asleep, and he decided that this news could wait till morning. He needed sleep, and so as soon as his head hit the pillow he was dreaming peacefully.

As peacefully as The-Boy-Who-Lived could dream, anyway.

* * *

**Right well, another chapter. Any one notice i changed the name? Long story behind that....you'll find out soon enough. **

**Anyone that finds something wrong you can tell me if you want but im always going to have some kind of excuse as to WHY so i dont have to change it. Unless its a spelling mistake...those i can change. Any Plot Problems...there IS a reason, trust me!**

**OK, Chapter 3... A little bit of wandering around after hours, ANOTHER arguement, a little bit of slashy thinking on both sides, oh god...MORE arguing, keeping secrets and WUPA! The Wind Up Potter Assossiation plays a little part during Breakfast.**

**OK and im all excited about my exam results so im going to tell everyone: 1 A, 4 As and 7 Bs. WOO HOO!**


	4. Equals not Enemies

**Chapter 3- Equals not Enemies**

When Draco had stumped his toe on the third chair leg in a matter of minutes, Blaise finally decided to go and see what he was up to. Draco never usually wandered about in the dark late at night, and if he did no one usually cared. But tonight Draco was making more noise than an unfed Weasley at breakfast and was in danger of waking the entire dorm if he wasn't careful. So, Blaise took pity on him and decided to save him from an unnecessary pummeling for disturbing the other Slytherins slumber.

"Draco what ARE you doing?" he asked, flicking on the light in the common room to find Draco on the floor, whimpering in pain and clutching his toe.

"Trying to get my toes to talk back, what does it look like?" Draco let his foot free and stood up with the help of the offending chair.

"You're all dressed, where were you planning on running off to at..." he checked his watch "3am?"

"No where special Zabini" Draco replied, replacing his shoe and straightening his robes "Just for a walk"

"Well make sure you walk more quietly through the corridors than you do in your own common room, Malfoy. Filch may be old but he certainly isn't deaf"

"I'm quite capable of looking after myself thanks" Draco replied huffily, and he turned to leave the common room.

"Your-uh- shoes are on the wrong feet Draco"

"GOOD NIGHT BLAISE!"

Draco slammed the dungeon door and stormed down the corridor, heading towards the front entrance. He needed some air and some time to think over what Dumbledore had said that evening.

Draco stormed out of the doors and out into the cool night breeze, thinking as he went, letting his feet carry him to his destination. He wasn't sure of what to make of all the information that had been thrown at him and so he decided to sit by the lake and think until breakfast, maybe that way he could come up with some idea as to how he was going to fool his father into believing he was just itching to destroy something.

He also needed to get out of the dorm to stop him dropping off to sleep. The dreams he'd been having lately were rather disturbing to say the least. He had decided he needed a distraction when he'd dreamt about Potter in the shower doing-

Yeah...definitely needed a distraction.

The autumn air was cold and damp with early morning dew. Draco had bought his cloak but the frozen air sliced through the fabric easily causing Draco to shiver slightly as the wind blew gently, encircling him in the cold.

He wrapped his cloak tighter around his body and dipped his head into the wind, making his way slowly over to the bank of the lake. Once there he pulled his cloak under him as he slumped down to the ground using a tree trunk as a resting place and the rest of the tree to shelter him from the icy wind. He let his head fall back onto the trunk of the tree and his eyes flickered shut, helping him to picture all the seriously cool things he would do when he found out how to use and control his strength.

The first thing he would definitely do is show that Weasley who was boss, he could turn his hair blue but that would clash awfully with his eyebrows and it wouldn't be him who had to look at it. He could stick him to the ceiling and leave him there, or if he was so powerful that he could read minds he would find out all his deepest darkest secrets and...

There was a quiet noise from behind him that snapped him back to reality. Draco opened his eyes and shuffled away from the tree, wand in hand, ready to strike.

Draco frantically surveyed his surroundings, not daring to move until he was certain he was imagining things. Slowly, cautiously, he moved back to the tree and let his head rest back in the position it was it before.

"_God, I'm paranoid" _He thought to himself just before he looked down and noticed the grass next to him was indented slightly, forming the invisible shape of a person lying down on their back using the blades of grass.

Draco yelped and flung himself away from the tree in his desperation to get away from the phantom grass. He thrust his wand in the right general direction and began to talk to thin air.

"I know someone's there!" he called out into the night "When I find you, whoever you are you're going to regret following me-"

"I didn't follow you Malfoy" Harry had watched Draco's reaction with great amusement, it wasn't often he got to scare him so when he got the chance, he took it!

So when he saw Malfoy walk from the castle and settle down not far from where he himself sat he decided to use the opportunity he had been given.

He thought he had better give himself up when he noticed how heavily Draco was breathing, he didn't want him to start hyperventilating on him or anything, he was scared he'd have a very strong urge to just walk away which wouldn't do much for his Hero image.

Reluctantly Harry tugged the cloak over his head and when his skin made sudden contact with the chilly wind outside the protection of the invisibility cloak, he took a sharp intake of breath before fixing Draco with a cold stare.

Draco relaxed slightly when he saw who was with him, not because it was Harry,(well...kinda) but because it wasn't someone who wanted to chop him into hundreds of tiny pieces and serve him to the Ministry for lunch because of his fathers actions. At least, not NOW anyway. Who knew what ways Harry had in mind to do away with Draco before he decided to switch sides.

"What were you doing then Potter? Admiring the view?" Draco had regained his cockiness with his nerves and had to redeem himself quickly "I know I'm frighteningly handsome but really...stalking isn't a wise hobby to take up now is it?"

"Oh shove a stick in your ear Malfoy and deflate your head a bit, you'll float away if it gets any bigger"

"Not denying my prettiness though are we?"

"Not denying the size of your ego either"

Draco opened his mouth to retaliate but Harry cut him off quickly, he couldn't argue with him, not after what Dumbledore had told him.

"_Be civil, Harry" _he reminded himself _"He's your equal, not your enemy"_

"So what are you doing out so late Malfoy? Needed to clear your head as well?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at the interruption but answered anyway, even though he decided telling him the truth would be embarrassing, so what he said was a total lie.

"The dungeons are always freezing in the winter, I can never sleep if its too cold. I needed to uh- oh- warm up a little"

_"And so I came out here. What an idiot! Could I GET any stupider?"_

Harry just nodded and continued to stare out into the lake. The water rippled with the breeze causing the first few stray leaves from the trees to glide silently across the lakes surface.

Draco, instead of sitting back where he was a few moments ago, bent to pick up some stones and he had begun skimming them on the water. Harry watched silently for a minute or so before speaking again.

"I used to do that a lot as a kid, my Uncle and Aunt used to take us up to the national parks once in a while and I got quite good until my cousin told me I was holding them up and he started throwing the stones at me instead to get me to keep walking"

Draco sneered, anyone who threw rocks at Potter had to be in his good books.

"My cousin was a nasty piece of work though. He used to sneak into my room at night and write FREAK across my forehead in permanent marker because he saw magic as an abnormality, a genetic disorder if you will."

Draco's sneer faltered. Maybe he didn't like this cousin so much...

"Why are you being nice to me Potter?" Draco didn't like to admit it, but Potter and Civil Conversation never went together in any book of his, and this unnerved him a little.

"I thought we had better take Dumbledore's advice and try and get on while we're training. But if it makes you feel better I can say I'm trying to bore you to death with the story of my terrible childhood" Harry smiled up at Draco but he didn't return the gesture.

"We're not friends, just because you told me one little thing about yourself doesn't mean I'm going to join in with the Show And Tell session and share the secrets of my life. We have to be civil, nothing more" Draco replied calmly, dropping the rest of the stones onto the grass and turning to leave.

"I didn't ask to be your friend Draco, if I remember correctly it was the other way around" Harry stood and walked over to face Draco, if he wanted to argue, he'd do it to his face.

"That was a long time ago Potter, things change. We hate each other remember? I'm not about to break the habit of a lifetime because its more convenient for Dumbledore."

"Don't just ASSUME I hate you Draco, I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of hating you. As far as I'm concerned you're still a obnoxious git but I'm willing to give the "Civil" thing a go for the Orders sake. Why cant you?" Harry was starting to get irritated

"You should know by now I like to do things MY way"

"Stop being a selfish prat and be co operative for once in your sodding life-"

"Piss off Potter, I don't need a lecture from you as well" and with that Draco swung round and disappeared into the darkness, his silvery blonde hair being the last thing to fade from view before all was lost in the swirling misty morning.

Harry decided to stay outside for a while longer, despite the cold. He needed to think of ways to control his temper when Draco was around, he couldn't and wouldn't let him stop him from learning everything he needed to for the final battle. It was just another thing for Harry to worry about but he was determined to make the training work for everyone's sake.

What was even more worrying was he actually was enjoying Malfoy's company when they hadn't been arguing and he had found pleasure in watching Draco skim the stones across the lake, watching him frown in concentration and then flicking his wrist to make the stone bounce effortlessly across the surface, the way his hair brushed across his face when he made the sudden movement.

That, was a VERY big problem.

Little did he know Draco was having the same kind of thoughts. He mentally kicked himself for feeling anything other than pure hatred for Harry and that was why he had snapped at him when he tried to be nice. He wasn't used to it, and when he found himself liking it he attacked it.

Potter is Potter, a no good Gryffindor. Obsessed with saving everyone and always getting on his case, noble, brave and above all adored by everyone for being so...so...NICE! NOT something to be desired or wanted by ANY Malfoy.

Then a thought struck him, could he really call himself a Malfoy? Did he have the right to call himself that when he had betrayed his father and the rest of the Malfoy line by joining sides with the Old Coot and The-Boy-Who-Lived.

"_Probably not" _Draco thought to himself with a sigh. It had occurred to him as he walked away from Harry that he had planned on staying by the lake until breakfast. Well he couldn't very well go back after he'd stormed off like that so he made for the castle and decided to go back to him common room. It was warmer there anyway (even if it was cold in winter) and didn't have the new object of his affection there either.

No, NO! HE. DID. NOT. LIKE. HARRY! HARRY. IS. BAD.

Draco repeated this to himself the whole way down to Slytherin common room and to really make sure it stuck in his brain, when he had settled himself by the fire, he grabbed a bit of parchment and began to write it over and over and over.

HARRY IS BAD  
HARRY IS BAD  
HAR-

_"No..."_

POTTER IS BAD  
POTTER IS BAD  
POTTER IS BAD

Harry meanwhile was still by the lake, watching the sun slowly rise from the tops of the furthest trees. When 7am finally rolled around Harry felt he had done enough thinking to last him the rest of his life. Especially about Draco! The amount of times he had run the image of Draco skimming the stones or sitting peacefully by the lake over in his brain, he felt like he would never ever forget his face. It felt as if it was imprinted there forever. Of course...he WOULD look at Draco again...just to remind himself of the more intricate details. Like the way his eyes weren't quite grey and looked more silvery in the moonlight than any other time, and the way one single lock of hair liked to slide its way over his eye and the way he'd flick it back with two fingers.

Oh god.

Getting along with Malfoy was going to be VERY, VERY hard indeed.

* * *

"Harry you look awfully tired" Hermione noted as Harry finally joined his house mates in the Great Hall after sloping back to the castle and standing in his dorm shower for nearly 40 minutes.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night" he replied, piling food onto his plate and distinctly avoiding looking over to the Slytherins table.

"You came back really late last night, what did Dumbledore make you do?" Ron watched as Harry kept his head close to his plate and began to shovel food into his mouth without looking up once.

"Harry stop that! Its disgusting!"

Harry scowled but did as he was told and looked directly at Ron to answer his question.

"Oh, he just wanted to talk to me and-"

Mentioning Draco may not be such a fantastic idea right now, especially since Ron was still fuming about the Quidditch match and Harry was afraid if he started talking about him he wouldn't be able to stop and he'd go on for hours and hours and hours and hours...

"Harry?"

Harry snapped his attention back to Ron.

"He wanted to tell me something is all" Harry continued as if nothing had happened, still keeping his eyes trained fully on Ron. Never straying once. Well...maybe once...

"Are you going to tell us what that something is?" Hermione said softly as if she were speaking to a child

Harry's mind began to tick over the ways of telling them most of the truth without mentioning Draco's involvement...oh god, Draco now? Malfoy, his name is MALFOY!

Harry frowned at this thought and began subconsciously tapping his fork against his plate.

"Are you SURE you're OK Harry?" Hermione asked again, becoming increasingly concerned. If Harry's tapping was nothing to go by then his constant lack of attention and straying imagination sure was!

"I'm fine Mione, really. Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about training is all"

"Training? What the hell for?" Ron yelled a bit too loudly. This sudden outburst made Malfoy's head snap up instantly and when he saw who had made the noise he glared across the room at Harry.

Harry shut his eyes against the glare willing himself not to lose his temper OR his self restraint.

"I-no-Ron" he took a deep breath and looked back at Ron "He thinks it would be a good idea for me to be learning some more useful stuff, for...you know" Harry flicked his head in no particular direction, indicating to Ron he should know what he was talking about.

"Well that seems sensible to me" Hermione nodded seeming satisfied.

Harry looked back at his plate.

DON'T look at Malfoy

DON'T look

DON'T

"You're finding your plate awfully interesting today Harry" Seamus chuckled from next to Ron, watching him carefully to make sure he didn't try and bury his face in his food or something.

Was there NO WHERE he couldn't look without being interrogated?

"So who's gunna be doing your training then Harry?" Ron asked with a mouthful of toast

"Uh-Snape and Lupin"

"Why do you need two teachers?" Ron replied spitting crumbs all over the table. Seamus glared at him.

Harry had to get out of the hall. He needed to compose himself, what with all the awkward questions and Malfoy glaring at him from across the room. He began tapping his fork much more furiously before throwing it onto the table startling the people around him.

"Harry-"

"IM FINE MIONE! I just have to uh- go- somewhere" Harry stood to leave but she grabbed his sleeve before he could rush anywhere.

"We'll talk later" she growled eyeing him suspiciously. He nodded and began to half jog to the doors.

_"Nearly there, Nearly out"_ he urged himself on, even more so as he past the Slytherins table, not even stopping to care about the insults being thrown at him like usual. Only one voice made him stop, and swivel round to stare open mouthed at the comments it was making. 

"-Dumbledore even said I could be more powerful than You-Know-Who"

"Really Draco?" Pansy Parkinson was clinging to Draco's arm as if she'd melt if she didn't have contact with the tiniest inch of his body.

"No he DIDN'T Malfoy!"

Instantly he regretted that comment. Draco began shaking his head furiously at Harry, as if trying to tell him to shut the hell up. Nothing new then.

"How would YOU know Potter?" Pansy sneered sidling even closer to Draco as if to protect him.

Draco was now pulling a long pale finger across his throat in slicing motions and Harry watched it intently, suddenly wondering if Draco's hands were cold and what they would feel like-

No BAD thoughts Harry, BAD!

"I-I wouldn't" Harry gulped. It looked as if Draco hadn't told his friends the full picture either. Still watching Draco's finger which now rested on Pansy's shoulder lightly along with the rest of his pale skinned hand, he continued "I just know that Draco is a liar and that statement is quite obviously a lie. More powerful than Voldemort? Please!"

Draco's face twisted into a scowl but he didn't reply, he should have been expecting that. Instead, he nodded his thanks and kept Pansy from jumping him and trying to plant his face into the stone floor.

Harry glanced over at his own table. Ron, Hermione and Seamus were watching the exchange and it looked as if Ron was itching to jump up and help Harry, and was only held in place by Hermione.

"You can GO now Potter" Draco drawled, unmoved from Pansy's side

Harry turned back to face him and growled

"Don't go spouting any more lies Malfoy and I'll never have to bother you again"

"Oh heaven on earth, I shall make sure I don't Harry."

Everyone on the Slytherin table seemed to stiffen as Draco called him by his first name. Harry visibly stepped back and gulped loudly. Draco covered it well though and laughed

"What is everyone's problem? Its his NAME isn't it? Albeit an ugly one, but his name none the less. You really were quite unfortunate on the name front weren't you Potter?"

Harry clenched his fists at his side but tried to keep his feet firmly wedged to the floor.

"Malfoy isn't exactly the most desirable name either, is it? I'd be ashamed to have a name associated to a death eater myself but then I suppose that suits you doesn't it, DRACO?"

At that comment Draco stood up and leaned over the table to grab Harry by his collar and pull him forwards

"WHAT did you say Potter?" and again, his silver orbs sparkled with fury.

Maybe insinuating he was a Death Eater wasn't the best idea Harry had ever had. Rethinking that insult would be a better one.

"Fuck" Harry whispered, closing his eyes, mainly because he'd made an idiotic mistake, but also because Draco's face was inches from his own and all he would have to do was lean forward just a little and...

"MR. POTTER!"

Oh here we go, the Malfoy club begins to gather...

* * *

The instant Draco heard the word _"Training"_ float from the other side of the room he instantly knew where it had come from.

Potter had told the Weasel and the Mudblood. Marvelous. That's all he needed, them two on his case for the rest of the year, AND after he'd tried so hard to blot them out. Not that he minded.

He glared at Harry.

"_Well, if he's going to tell HIS friends...I'm going to tell mine"_ Draco thought icily, turning to Blaise. But then a thought struck him...

He couldn't tell them Harry was training as well, the news wouldn't be NEARLY as good. Damn Potter, ALWAYS butting in on Draco's time in the lime light. Plus there was the slight problem of the feelings...whatever they were...he had for Harry. He didn't want to think about them...AT ALL.

Draco thought that maybe if he ignored them he'd forget he ever had them and they would just disappear...POOF! Just like...

_"Poof?...oh bollocks now I cant even say that without thinking about Harry. Why me?"_

Draco shook himself and turned to Pansy...she was thick enough not to notice how agitated he was and wouldn't ask him about it. And she would give Draco all the attention he'd need when he told her...MOST of what Dumbledore had said. He'd tell Pansy.

"Oh Pansy..."

"Yes Draco dear?"

Well Draco being Draco didn't plan on Harry actually HEARING him tell Pansy, so when he walked past and overheard Draco, he had to make sure Potter didn't blow his cover.

"No he DIDN'T Malfoy!"

"How would YOU know Potter?"

"_Oh God. Oh please no. If she finds out Harry's going to be training with me, we're BOTH goners. She'll tell my father...Oh bollocking hell he'll KNOW I'm a spy!"_

Draco began slitting his throat with his finger, Harry looked at him oddly for what seemed like hours, just watching his finger which to Draco also seemed slightly odd.

Finally, Harry replied with

"I-I wouldn't. I just know that Draco is a liar and that statement is quite obviously a lie. More powerful than Voldemort? Please!"

_"Hey, now wait just a min- Oh..."_

Draco was satisfied. And decided he'd get Harry back for the sarcastic comment later. Draco then decided thinking about Getting Harry Back was also not such a brilliant plan and concentrated his attention on Pansy's shoulder...lovely nice shoulder...innocent shoulder...

When Harry didn't move Draco started to get impatient. He wanted to remove his gaze from Pansy's shoulder, as lovely and bony as it was, and wanted to get back to thinking usual Malfoyish things. No thinking about anything Potter related today, nuh uh! Not here! Nooo way.

"You can GO now Potter"

"Don't go spouting any more lies Malfoy and I'll never have to bother you again"

Draco scowled and realized Harry was getting more insults in than he was! Well, he'd soon see to that!

"Oh heaven on earth, I shall make sure I don't Harry."

Pansy tensed under his hand and Draco instantly realized his mistake. Inwardly he cursed himself and put on the famous _"I'm a Malfoy, I don't care"_ face.

"What is everyone's problem? Its his NAME isn't it? Albeit an ugly one, but his name none the less. You really were quite unfortunate on the name front weren't you Potter?"

"_Heh, good one. Managed to insult him there too. Go me!"_

Draco wasn't QUITE as cocky when Harry lost his temper...again...

And then Draco lost HIS temper...

And then Snape came in...

All in a days work for...WUPA! The Wind Up Potter Association!

* * *

"You two never listen do you?" Snape growled as he hauled them out of the great hall and into his office "You were TOLD to get along, and I know its HARD Draco..."

"_I'll say, its starting to get uncomfortable" _Draco shuffled in his seat

"But I THOUGHT I could trust you to just pretend he didn't exist!"

Neither boy said anything and just looked at the floor.

Harry was kicking himself for losing his temper again, but then he also had the image of kicking Draco just as hard for provoking him in the first place.

"And you...POTTER..."

Harry sighed and looked up, waiting for the inevitable point deduction

"...are just as bad!"

Eh? The didn't sound like "1 million points for hurting my poor Drakey Wakey woo"...ew!

Snape gave them a massively long lecture about fighting at breakfast, and then another about what they would have to bring to their first training session on Monday and where to go. That all lasted until they had to be in their second lesson of the day which just so happened to be potions.

Snape stormed out of the room before the boys and sped off towards the dungeons. Harry and Draco followed at their own pace which also gave Draco time to tell Harry not to mention training again...

"I didn't tell them I was training with you Potter" he began, ignoring the look Harry gave him as they made their way down.

"I didn't tell my friends either" Harry replied

Draco was surprised. Why had he done that? Draco thought Harry would have jumped at the chance to show that he had yet again managed to take something from him.

"So we agree not to mention it then?"

Harry nodded. He was definitely going to try and avoid the subject if possible with his friends. It got him thinking about things he shouldn't think about, and then the things he shouldn't think about became things he WANTED to think about but REALLY shouldn't think about.

Basically, he didn't want to acknowledge the fact he got little butterflies in his stomach every time anything remotely related to Draco happened or came up in conversation.

No he wanted to squish them down until they were mush and he didn't notice them anymore.

They made their way down the dungeons in silence, both thinking about the presence of the other and both denying they felt anything but hatred towards each other.

Well training was certainly going to be interesting!

* * *

**AN: I know its not Saturday, but Slytherin Snakes is pestering me to update and I really did want to and so I took her good advice...**

**Again with any plot problems- I have excuses. And I realized that Draco doesn't really have any new POWERS as such, he just powerFUL! Makes sense no?**

**Hey if anyone wants to help me think up all the cool new things he can do I'd appreciate the help coz I am SO amazingly stuck. **

**Woo, more reviews. I like reviews I do. I mite give you candy if u review...**

**OK next chapter: Chapter 4: A bit of weird behaviour, a plan, training begins (at last), a plan in action, hehe the Speck makes an appearance (my fave character so far), we see a little of why Draco is different (someone tell me if this is too lame or is so amazingly wrong coz I'm not sure. And if it is give me ideas of what I can do instead)**

**Finally- a truce.**

**Kinda long I guess. **

**Gah shutting up, I accept that I'm lame. xxxx**


	5. Look at the Speck!

**Chapter 4- Look at the Speck**

The weekend was over before Harry had time to stop and think about anything. This meant Monday came at a surprising speed and to Harry it felt like it was only yesterday that he was sat in Dumbledore's office talking about what was to happen that very evening, but it was 4 days ago now.

Harry hadn't seen much of Draco over the weekend, they had both been busy with their own friends and Harry had a ton of homework to catch up on which Hermione had made him do.

Nothing had therefore happened over the last 2 days but that didn't stop Harry wondering why the hell he cared. Usually if he didn't see Draco for two days running it was a blessing but now he felt kind of lost without him, it was just as if he...he...MISSED him.

Harry began to chuckle to himself when he thought this on Sunday night in the Library with Hermione and Ron. They both looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head

"Share the joke Harry" Ron smiled, leaning over to try and read what Harry had found so funny in his book he was bent over.

Still laughing Harry looked up

"Sorry, what Ron?"

"You're laughing, what's funny?"

"Oh, I uh- was just remembering something Seamus said to me yesterday" he lied

"What did he say?"

"Oh, you were there Ron, don't you remember? He said- uh-"

Harry looked around for a way out of the situation. He looked at the front of his book and had an idea

"Oh would you look...it's the wrong book! I'll just go and get the right one. Be right back guys!"

Harry grabbed his bag and his pile of books and hurried over to the furthest isle he could find that was empty.

Hermione looked on after him as he ran though the library

"He's been reading the same page in that book for the last 2 hours, surely he would have noticed it was the wrong one before now!"

"Hey! And he never told me what was funny!" Ron added, scowling in the direction Harry had run.

Harry shoved the books back onto the shelf in any random order and stuck his head round the side to see if Hermione and Ron were still looking for him.

He could only see Ron and he had his head stuck back in his Quidditch book. Harry took a deep breath and pelted for the doors. He got outside the library and kept running until he reached the Fat Lady. He leant against the wall, catching his breath before going inside. He had to do his best to avoid MORE questions.

Running away from people was becoming more regular. This was getting ridiculous. But what could he do? He'd have to ride it out, either that or go to Malfoy and tell him what was bothering him and have him laugh in his face and go and tell the whole school he was-

Nope...the first one sounded good. Very good. He could do this, it was just a matter of will power...

* * *

Draco lay on his bed with the curtains drawn staring up at the ceiling and thinking about that evenings first training session.

He was kind of excited, he was going to be learning about all kinds of things he would be able to do once he knew how and he wondered just how MUCH more powerful he was.

Blaise stuck his head in through is drapes to ask to borrow his Transfiguration notes, Draco just threw them at him muttering something about Privacy and lay back on his bed, still deep in thought.

Somehow his thoughts turned to Harry.

Bah, stupid Harry.

Draco made the firm decision he was just going to ignore him totally. If he couldn't be unforgivably nasty to him or too nice without resulting in suspicion then he would pick the option in the middle. Indifference. Nada, nothing!

"_Brilliant plan Draco, Merlin I outdo myself time and time again, I should be some kind of..."_

His thoughts were promptly distracted once again by Blaise

"Er...Draco what the hell is THIS?!"

With a heavy sigh Draco shoved his head through the curtains surrounding his so called solitude and scowled. That is, until he saw what Blaise was holding.

"I mean, I knew you hated him and all, but really. You think this is taking it a little too far?"

Draco stared at the piece of parchment which had his random lines about Harry being bad. Luckily Blaise hadn't picked up on the fact he had been calling him Harry until he noticed and changed it to Potter at the last minute.

"I uh- my Dad, um- Owled me and told me to write some lines about Har-Potter and how much I hate him. He noticed I had been a bit slack with my uh- taunting of late" Draco made up a lame excuse, grabbed the bit of parchment and shoved it behind him onto the bed.

"Oh, ok. You know, I would have thought you'd have come up with something better than _"Potter is Bad"_ though Draco" Blaise replied giving him a funny look and going back to copying his notes.

"My heart wasn't in it" he lied. _"It sure as hell WAS"_

* * *

Harry stood outside the potions classroom waiting for someone else to turn up. He had been sitting inside to begin with but it had begun to disturb him somewhat because Snape was busy in his back cupboard organizing it, and decided that outside alone, was MUCH better than inside with Snape.

Draco arrived a short time later and he glided straight past Harry without even looking at him slumped against the wall in his weekend clothes, his jeans dipped down slightly to reveal his hip and a bit of his torso. OK so maybe he caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye but Harry didn't notice and assumed Draco was being his usual pompous self.

Harry followed Draco into the room and found him sat lazily on a desk at the front, waiting for Snape.

"Hey Malfoy"

No reply.

"Hello? Malfoy?"

Still no reply. Harry started waving his hand in front of Draco's face to get him to pay attention. Draco just snatched his wrist and jerked him forward hissing "fuck off" as he let him free.

Harry rubbed his wrist and wondered what the hell had crawled up his arse to get him so cranky when Lupin entered and greeted Harry with a warm smile.

"Hullo Harry" Lupin nodded and his gaze turned to Draco "and Draco" he added before going into the back cupboard to find Snape.

Draco ignored him, just like he had Harry and continued to stare at the front of the classroom.

"What the hell is up with you?" Harry snarled at the back of his head, noting how soft his hair looked at that moment. No, he was supposed to be angry! He snapped his eyes away from his hair and leaned round to look at his face. That didn't help much, Draco had a calm look on his face, completely content and he looked so totally edible Harry had to restrain himself from leaning that little bit further and kissing him. Little did Harry know he was hiding his complete and utter shock because Harry had got so close he could feel his breath on his cheek and it was beginning to drive him insane.

Draco shuffled his table sideways to get away from Harry's glare and the wonderful feeling of breath on his face and eyes raking over every inch of his cheek.

"_Just keep ignoring him, you're doing fine...DON'T look at him. If you do, you're lost."_

Harry raised an eyebrow and shuffled closer, not quite done with smelling the wonderful smell of shampoo and something sweet that Draco held.

"You're IGNORING me Malfoy?"

"I'm TRYING to, yes. But if you keep insisting on shoving your face in my personal space its going to much more difficult. Ever heard of boundaries Potter?"

Harry shuffled back slightly, realizing he'd inched a little TOO close. He leaned back on another desk and flashed Draco a winning smile.

"Now, why would you want to do that?"

"The same reason I've been TRYING to do it for the last 5 years"

Harry just nodded. Draco's thought his face would start to scream LIE LIE LIE LIE LIE! If he blushed anymore and so quickly controlled himself and concentrated on the front of the classroom again.

Harry sighed and got up. He walked to the front of the room and began to fiddle with things on Snape's desk, much to Draco's annoyance because now he was standing right in front of the speck on the wall that he was staring at.

Bloody Potter.

He shifted his attention to a speck higher up on the wall, not before catching sight of Harry yawning and stretching his arms above his head making his shirt ride up. He then tilted his head to the side and ran a hand down the back of his neck, cracking it quietly.

Draco was nearly drooling.

"_No, look at the speck! Interesting speck! Speck, speck, speck...oh Merlin is he ruffling his hair? Sweet Jesus, he is."_

Luckily, just before Draco pounced on Harry there came raised voices from Snape's store cupboard. Harry dropped the pencils he was piling up and went in to defend Lupin, if he needed it.

Draco quickly followed ready to defend Snape.

"You were always an interfering know it all Lupin, why I listened to Dumbledore I'll never know!"

"Hey, I tried to cut you some slack!"

"Yeah, by attempting to bite my head off!"

"I did NOT, you're over exaggerating"

"But you WOULD have, given half a chance"

"Of COURSE I would have! I'm a werewolf! I'm not myself, I cant control-"

"You shouldn't be teaching at this school Lupin, you're a danger to all its pupils and staff and besides which, you are using up my Wolfsbane like there's no tomorrow!"

"Excuse me to interrupt here, but aren't we supposed to be learning? Forgive me if I was mistaken..." Draco cut in, wanting to get this over and done with so he could get away from Harry as fast as possible. He could have sworn he was exhibitioning himself on purpose.

Lupin and Snape looked at the two boys and felt instantly guilty, they were there for them, not to argue about their pasts.

Lupin was the first to speak

"We're sorry Draco. You're perfectly right. Shall we get started?"

"Ooh, please! Lets!" Draco grinned sarcastically and Snape smirked as Lupin exited the room to join Harry and Draco.

The session went surprisingly smoothly. As expected a few rows broke out between Snape and Lupin about the correct ways to cast certain spells and whatnot but other than that everything went according to plan.

Draco was having a VERY hard time ignoring Harry, mainly because a lot of the time Harry understood a lot better than Draco did and they had to revert to casting the spell together for him to get a good idea. Unfortunately for Draco this meant touching.

Snape and Lupin had told them that if they wanted to cast an extremely strong and powerful spell they could cast the spell together. Lupin had told them to hold hands but all three snorted in disgust and decided it would be much more appropriate if Harry just put his hand on Draco's shoulder.

Harry was trying to show Draco how to cast a Patronus. His Patronus could be strong anyway without the help of another strong wizard and Harry was wondering how it could get any more effective!

Draco was struggling to cast anything other than a small silver puff of smoke, much to Harry's amusement. So, to help him out he rested his hand gently on his shoulder from behind.

"Have you got you're happy memory?" Harry asked quietly, again basking in the gorgeous smell of Draco.

Draco was equally put on edge due to Harry's closeness and the hand on his shoulder was sending shivers down his left side.

"If you can call it happy. I think 'Decidedly Pleased' would be a better description...but anyhoo..."

"No Malfoy, this is why its not working! It has to be a happy memory"

"It may surprise you to hear this Potter, because you seem to think you're the only one with a bad home life, but I don't have a great deal of happy memories and you're starting to irritate me!"

"There must be SOMETHING!"

"Well if there is I cant think of it!"

Harry sighed "Make something up, pretend its real. But I'm having a hard time believing you don't have ONE happy memory" 

"Why is this suddenly on my "bad memories" list?"

"Shut up and think..."

Draco thought. What would make him happiest right now?

Harry's hand began to fidget on his shoulder, and Draco could feel the soft movement though his shirt. He shut his eyes and enjoyed the feeling, pretending Harry was willingly making Draco feel like this.

Harry had begun to cast his own Patronus and without thinking Draco copied his movements, forgetting he didn't yet have a happy memory. He couldn't let him think he wasn't able to think any happy thoughts right at that moment so he began to cast the spell and hope it worked with the extra help from Harry.

Draco opened his eyes just when a shock of white light shot from both of their wands. He gasped and staggered backwards into Harry because of the force and grabbed the hem of his shirt for support. Harry still had his hand on Draco's shoulder and held him up, they watched as Harry's Stag and a very, very faint outline...of...of...was that a MAN?

Harry gasped and took his hand away from Draco.

"What the hell was that?!" he said, staring at Draco suspiciously

"My Patronus, I guess..."

"But...Dra-uh, Malfoy...that was a man! All Patronus' are animals of some sort"

"It would appear Draco's is not though Harry" Lupin interrupted, "you have to understand, nothing will be much of a surprise with you two"

Draco looked smug, a look with Harry really wanted to beat off of his face. It was ruining the perfect face he had and annoying him immensely.

Harry shook his hand that had been on Draco's shoulder instead. It was tingling from the magic and he wanted to get rid of the urge to place it back on Draco's shoulder.

"I think I've had enough of Patronus' for today" Harry grumbled, rubbing his hand with the other and sitting back on another desk.

* * *

Training really took it out of them. Both boys had been at it for nearly 3 hours when Snape finally drew the lesson to an end. They had learnt a whole variety of new spells, hexes, charms and defense spells, and Lupin had even begun to touch on things they could do which involved a great deal of magic. What excited them the most was the prospect of learning wandless magic and apparition, which wasn't meant to be learnt until they were 'of age' but Snape had said it would be a vital aid to them in the future.

It took much longer than expected to go though everything planned for that night however because the professors kept getting into minor disputes about things and it took one of the two boys, who were ignoring each other as much as was possible, to break them up.

As Harry and Draco exited the classroom, they could hear another argument break out, but neither bothered to stop it this time. Instead, Harry grabbed Draco by his arm as he left, turning him to face him

"What is it Potter, I want to go to bed if its any trouble..."

"Look Draco can we call a truce?" Harry was determined for he and Draco to at least be on talking terms. He didn't like ignoring him much because that meant he couldn't admire him from a distance as much without being so obvious. And besides...surely partners needed to be talking to each other to be able to work together successfully.

Draco snorted at the question, but one look at Harry's pleading face and he couldn't bring himself to say no.

"_Damn Harry, where the hell did he learn to look at people like that? Makes me feel all guilty for even CONSIDERING saying something nasty"_

"I- well.."

"Come on Draco, surely 5 years worth of making each others lives hell has been enough. Isn't it time to just give up?" Harry reasoned. He stole a look back at the classroom door where the arguing could still be heard wafting though "I don't want to end up like them"

"What?!" Draco exclaimed "I thought you loved your precious Werewolf!"

"Lupin has been one of the best teachers I've had, he's like family to me, but I didn't mean it like that. I meant I didn't want to be arguing with you about a stupid school grudge when we're in our thirties!"

"I doubt very much Snape is in his thirties!" Draco mumbled, almost to himself

"Draco! Just promise me you'll consider it?"

Draco had to admit he had a point. And this _'Ignore him'_ malarkey was driving him insane, he needed to be able to have him close by. Honestly, looking at specks on the wall weren't nearly as interesting as watching Harry work on magic, or just merely watching Harry!

"Alright Harry" Draco sighed "I suppose you're right"

Harry smiled, he was pleased. He and Draco worked well together and he was surprised at how well they got on when they had to.

"Friends then?" Harry smiled holding out his hand

Draco hesitated. Was this a big mistake? He didn't want to acknowledge his feelings for Harry but he had to admit they were still there, as strong as ever and the thought that he would be on friendly terms with him was worrying.

What if he couldn't control himself?

"_No don't be silly, Malfoy's always have control..."_

What if something happened?

Harry had begun to look nervous so Draco pushed all his worries aside and took his hand in a firm grip and shook.

They grinned at each other before Draco had another worry.

"I cant tell the Slytherins Harry" he said as he lowered his hand back to his side "Most of them are Death Eaters in training, and think I am too. If they found out I was friends with you who knows what would happen"

"Its OK Draco" Harry smiled "I wasn't planning on tell my housemates either, you know what Ron's like and I cant be dealing with him right now"

"Yeah, the Weasel does have a short temper"

"It doesn't mean you can insult my friends and get away with it"

"Worth a try though right?"

They began to make their way back to their own dorms, chatting about the training and enjoying each others company, no matter how short lived it was. They parted quickly and Harry spent the rest of his journey up to Gyriffindor tower, deep in thought about his 'feelings' or whatever they were, for Draco.

Maybe, he thought, if they were friends he would stop feeling like this. Maybe this is what he really wanted?

Harry smiled at that thought, relieved he had figured out what it was he was feeling. Relieved at the fact he didn't like Draco like he thought he did.

He ignored the feeling that he was completely, totally, and utterly...WRONG!

* * *

**Random pencils in a place where they use QUILLS! Aren't I smart? And I put electric lights in the last chapter....Anybody notice that?**

**Meh well, while I'm at it I might as well advertise my other Fic which ISNT actually here coz I have written it joint with Slytherin Snakes so its on her list of fics. Its called Fluffy Thongs and BBQ Tongs. Don't ask about the title, I was hyper and it evolved. In fact, pretty much the entire Fic came about from being hyper...hmmm....SNAPEFEST!!!!!!!**

**Oh and i posted a new fic called Black Balloon...reactions so far are "Im nearly crying" and "WOW!" so...tell me what you all think. **

**Anyhoo, review! PWEASE! I will love everyone forever if you do! Tell me if the man Patronus thing was weird, coz I have an idea about it sooooo obvious but if that's just totally wrong let me know and I'll change it to something else. **

**What's this about meat vision? I'm intrigued...**

**Next chapter: I skip the next few months in a couple of paragraphs, they're friends...for the moment winks, training explained, Lucius comes back with a plan and so does Voldie poos, Alex and Willow...well...you'll have to wait and see... I'm not saying anything else....mwahahahaha! ROLL ON NEXT SATURDAY!**


	6. Reading and Ruins

**Chapter 5- Reading and Ruins**

The next few months were filled with school work, homework, training and practicing everything they had learnt in training.

Hermione had insisted Harry was working too hard, but he was adamant that he was actually enjoying himself learning all the extra stuff much to Ron's disgust. Of course, Harry wouldn't tell them about Draco training with him OR the friendship they had formed since training had begun.

Harry and Draco would often leave training together and go for walks while the rest of the school slept and during the rest of the week they would meet up after dinner twice a week to practice what they had learnt in the previous session. This meant they were getting along at an alarming rate. Lupin and Snape were amazed at their quick progress and had begun to move onto much more advanced stuff.

Both of them could apparate short distances, cast many spells together that were so strong that Lupin and Snape had to duck or dive out of the way. The room after each session was devastated, but no one minded. They could do many spells without the use of their wands, summon many objects all at once and make them hover in the air just as they reached their destination. They could deflect hexes and curses at lightening speed and they could send some ricocheting back at the caster.

Harry, to his great horror, had been taught the unforgivables. He practiced on tiny bugs, the ones which really annoyed him, which made him feel slightly better. He only agreed when he was told that he couldn't really kill Voldemort without them and that Draco had already mastered them with the help of his father.

Snape had told them it would be useful for them to learn Legilimency and occulmency, and so that is what they were now working on. Harry was still having a hard time with occulmency as he was the year before, but he was giving it his best effort and Snape didn't seem nearly as hostile as the last time he tried it.

Not towards him anyway...

He and Lupin were always arguing and Harry and Draco had given up trying to split them apart.

Their arguments were few and far between and became less so when Harry and Draco had begun leaving while they bickered like school children. But they didn't stop, and when one reared its ugly head it lasted for hours.

Harry and Draco usually ended up by the lake skimming stones or in the library looking up more things they could try by themselves when their sessions were rudely interrupted like that, but neither minded much.

Draco hated to admit it, but Harry was fast becoming one of the best friends he had ever had. Crabbe and Goyle were loyal but they weren't really people you would class as friends. Pansy was just down right annoying, and Blaise, Blaise was probably the only person Draco counted as a real friend. And now Harry.

They spent a lot of time together, working, or just talking about anything and everything. They still argued sometimes but what friends don't? They would always have their rivalry to look back on and the petty things they got angry over didn't seem so important anymore.

Harry was also feeling that Draco wasn't half bad when you really got to know him. Sure he could still be an obnoxious brat at times but that was part of who he was and it just took a bit of getting used to.

Hermione and Ron didn't seem to notice his regular absence on certain days anymore. It had turned into part of their routine that Harry wouldn't be there twice a week after dinner, Monday nights until late and sometime during the weekend. Therefore they never bothered him about it, and put it down to all the training.

Hermione only ever really made a fuss about how much he was eating and sleeping, which was nothing out of the ordinary.

Quidditch was going well, Gryffindor were winning as per usual and Harry's school work wasn't slipping, it was in fact doing the exact opposite. Everything was peachy.

At Hogwarts anyway...

**Far Far away from the Happiness at Hogwarts...**

Lucius scanned the pages of the large dusty book by candle light, his head drooped, his eyes half closed from exhaustion.

There hadn't been anything, in any book, about how to break the spells protecting Hogwarts.

Nothing.

But of course, why would there be? Who would do such a thing?

Voldemort would.

His gaze traveled back to _Hogwarts: A History_, the page laying open on the detailed chapter about the wards. He read it again, possibly for the one Hundredth time that day.

"_There are so many" _he thought sadly _"Too many"_

You had to give Dumbledore credit. When one Ward was broken, another was put in its place automatically. When that didn't happen and a Ward was broken, it took several wards to be broken simultaneously to have any kind of effect of the castle.

Lucius' eyes skimmed the page, and came to a halt on Muggle repelling Charms.

"_Muggles"_ he thought, _"Muggles..."_

He imagined what would happen if Muggles ever knew about the wizarding world. There would be mass chaos for starters, the ministry would be called out all over the country, Dumbledore would...

"Holy Merlin THAT'S IT!"

Frantically he began flipping pages in the Dark Arts book he had in front of him.

"_Where is it? I knew I saw it somewhere...page 300 and...AHA!"_

He threw the book down and reached over for a candle. Pulling it closer he leant over and began to read.

It took nearly 2 hours, and a great deal of thinking, but eventually Lucius thought he had the answer.

It was perfect. They break the Ward preventing Muggles from seeing Hogwarts, Muggles find out, chaos ensues, Dumbledore leaves Hogwarts at its most vulnerable to help the Ministry and voila! They were free to enter Hogwarts without much trouble and do whatever they pleased.

They would win this war yet.

One small snag. A lot of power was needed to break that particular charm, and Lucius doubted his master had that kind of power alone.

He put his mind to rest when he thought back over Severus' reply to his owl, that Draco was doing VERY well at his training and would soon be ready for whatever was required.

Of course, the owl didn't mention that Draco was doing well at the things he needed to defeat Voldemort rather than help him.

All that Lucius was thinking about was about how easily his son would agree to helping the Dark Lord. He knew Draco was stubborn and so made the firm decision that if he didn't agree he'd just stick the imperious on him and force him to do it.

Silly, silly Lucius...

**Meanwhile...**

"I'm still not sure this is such a great idea Wil"

"Look, if you don't have anything useful to say then shut up! I didn't bring you to whine at me"

Willow and Alex had been rowing for nearly an hour, in the pitch black of the night, looking into the black of the water, and all around them being engulfed in darkness.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Alex needed to talk, the silence was scaring him more than anything else.

"Look around I guess" Willow replied, grimacing as she pulled back on the oar, pulling the boat closer to the other bank of the lake.

"You know" Alex began "It could be some hideout for wanted criminals, or a storage of stolen goods, or old hobos live in there"

"Yes, I'm sure its all of those rolled into one Alex" Willow sighed and continued to row "Would you mind helping me row, we're going to end up going round in circles if you paddle any slower"

"Sorry" he mumbled and pulled harder on the oar. "What do YOU think is up there then?"

"Probably some rotting wood and a few rats" Willow said just as they hit the bank at the other side "But we're about to find out, aren't we?" 

Alex swallowed hard and followed his sister who had clambered out of the boat and had begun to tie it up.

"So why are we here if that's all there is going to be?"

"You never know do you?" she winked at her brother and turned to face the ruin. It stood a short way up the hill, not far away at all but it would be a long way to run if there was something unexpected in there.

Alex checked the knot his sister had tied the boat up with and frowned, not a proper knot at all but he didn't have time to change it as Willow was now tugging at her brothers hand, telling him to follow close behind and not to get lost.

They reached the large wooden doors, skidding to a halt just as a gust of wind blew in from over the lake causing the heavy doors to blow inwards for them to enter. The KEEP OUT sign banging heavily against it.

"That was convenient" Alex whispered hiding slightly behind his sister, reading the sign "You know, it says its dangerous, I think maybe we should go back now..."

"Don't be a wuss" she whispered back and she inched round the door frame slowly, keeping in the shadows and motioning for him to follow her.

"I...er...I think I remember something I have to do...we have to go home Wil! WIL!" He was pulled quickly inside.

He was amazed at the size of the ruin. He stood in a large darkened hallway by the looks of things, a large winding staircase, rotted and aged had once decorated the area and all the large windows were now gaping holes in the walls.

Glass littered the floor and their shoes crunched over it as they walked slowly, taking in their surroundings.

They explored the entire floor and found nothing, saw nothing and heard nothing.

"I think maybe you were right about the rotting wood and rats, Wil" Alex sighed kicking a plank of wood across the floorboards.

Willow was standing in front of the huge staircase, looking up into the upper floor.

"We haven't looked upstairs yet, people wouldn't hide stuff on the bottom floor would they?"

To Alex this made sense but did they really want to climb and old rotting staircase, in an old rotting house that hadn't had any weight put on it for centuries?

Looked like they were about to.

She stood on the first step slowly, making sure it didn't break under her weight, when she was sure it was safe she moved to the next step, and the next. She did this until she was half way up and she turned to call Alex up to meet her.

He did exactly like she did and eventually he was half way as well. Willow was now on the landing at the top and was jumping up and down in triumph

"Its perfectly safe Alex, look, it can hold my weight eas-"

That's when the floorboards beneath her cracked and broke. She fell through the hole that was now covering nearly the entire landing and luckily managed to grab onto the floorboards that were still in tact.

Alex, forgetting the state of the wood on the stairs charged up to help his sister back up through the hole. He made it up and leaned down over into the gaping hole to help her pull herself back.

"Oh God, help me Alex, my arm is slipping" Willow cried out as he grabbed her shoulder and began to pull her back.

"What? What is it?"

"Its my arm, I cut it on some broken floorboards when I fell, just...be careful OK?"

Alex nodded and got her by the arm a little lower down.

Together they managed to pull her back to safety and they quickly made their way back down stairs, not being careful like before in their hurry to escape the rotting staircase.

Alex's leg crashed through a stair near to the bottom and he yanked it out, not caring he had slashed his leg and ankle badly.

Both teens crumpled on the floor outside when they eventually made it from the old ruin.

The wind was still blowing and it cooled them down. Willow rolled back her sleeve and hissed as a deep red gash was revealed, glistening with blood.

Alex ripped a sleeve off his shirt and tied it tightly around the wound to stop the bleeding.

"That should do until we get back" he said quietly, relieved at being away from the house and nearer to the boat. They couldn't see the boat from their position on top of the hill but he still felt safer for knowing it was there.

"What about your leg?" Willow asked, pulling his trouser leg up to see what damage there was. His entire ankle was ripped open and was flowing freely with blood. Alex ripped off his other sleeve and did the same to his ankle as he had done with Willows arm.

"We had better get back" he smiled gently, helping Willow up and attempting to pull her back to the bank of the lake.

"We didn't find anything" Willow sighed sadly, wishing there was more to the old ruin than they had discovered.

"No, but we had a bit of an adventure" Alex tried to cheer her up but she only looked at the ground beneath her feet and followed Alex silently back to where they had tied up the boat.

"Uh...Wil are we sure this is where we tied the boat up?" Alex's voice was raised slightly in panic.

There was no boat, no where, anywhere around the bank of the lake that he could see.

"I'm sure of it, look, the post is still there!" Willow pointed to the post that stood in the ground next to their feet

"I KNEW your knot was crap Willow! If you hadn't been in such a bloody hurry-"

"I'm sorry OK, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. Blame it on me. I don't care. All I care about is getting home. I'm cold, I'm tired, my arm hurts..."

And with that she burst into tears.

Alex sighed and put his arms round her to comfort her as she sobbed desperately into his shoulder.

"Its OK" Alex whispered into her hair "Really, we'll be fine. What we're going to do is sleep here tonight, by that tree for shelter, and in the morning we'll be able to see more and maybe do something about it. But we're both tired and in shock and there isn't much we can do."

Willow nodded in agreement and dropped herself down next to the tree on the bank.

Alex, being a boy scout in his childhood, had constructed a small pile of well placed logs from the house to start a fire with. The idea was that someone would see it and come and investigate. The only problem was the logs were damp and were refusing to light.

Willow had told him not to worry, to leave the logs out to dry in the wind and to get some sleep.

He had obliged happily, and the siblings drifted off into an uneasy sleep for the remainder of the night.

In the same position, under the tree on the bank of the lake on the Hogwarts grounds, Harry Potters scar began to burn...

* * *

**AN: I wont have time to post this chapter 2moz coz I'm working from half 7 in the MORNING! GUH! And then I'm at a Hen party a bit later so I grace ye all with chapter 5 this evening. **

**Usual stuff: if something is wrong tell me, I'll change it. For instance...the wards...I didn't really have a clue so made some stuff up. And I'm sorry if the bit at the house was lame. It gets better from now on...I SWEAR. More plot now...promise! **

**AND REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW...why was it I got more reviews when I offered food? OK...I will give anyone who reviews food...**

**Ok so...next chapter: Voldemort gets active! Alex and Willow aren't where they're supposed to be, Harry and Draco...hmmm...nah that's TOO much information...MORE talking to Dumbledore, and we make some new friends...**

**Until NEXT SATURDAY! DUN DUN DUN....**


	7. A Few Pips Short of an Orange

**Chapter 6- A Few Pips Short of an Orange**

Lucius had taken his findings straight to his master. He was so proud of his idea and he was desperate for The Dark Lords thoughts on it.

Obviously he had been pleased with his most loyal Death Eater and promised great rewards for his efforts.

Lucius had expected no less.

He was told to go and rest, for it would be a big day for them tomorrow. Lucius would call his son home from Hogwarts, and complete the training himself if necessary.

He did as he was instructed and smiled to himself as he fell to sleep, finally feeling things were going his way.

Voldemort however did not rest. He had to be sure this idea would work, and so, a small test was required.

He knew that it was a difficult spell to cast and it was over an extremely long distance which didn't help matters, and this was why Draco was needed.

However, he also knew that he could cast it with temporary effects, 10 minutes at most. He had to do it now, he couldn't have Muggles finding out yet, not when he was unprepared, so in the early hours of the morning would be the best time, when many were in bed.

Even if they did see it, he thought, it would be gone soon after and would be thought mad if they alerted anyone. After all, it wasn't everyday that you saw your local run down old mansion turn into a huge castle, that looked as if it was lived in by hundreds and had been for many, many, many years!

And so he set to work, muttering incantations and filling the room with light from his wand as he read over the instructions in the book Lucius had brought him.

In the early hours of the next morning, when the spell was complete, a green light shone proudly from the tip of his wand. It had worked. Hogwarts was vulnerable, if only for a short while. Hogwarts sat, for the entire muggle world to see.

* * *

"Shit Harry? What is it?"

"Its---ah! Its my scar" Harry had his eyes clamped shut, clutching his forehead and leaning forward over his knees as he sat by the tree with Draco.

They had been watching the sun rise together, mainly because they couldn't be bothered to move from their comfortable and warm places. They normally did this on a night after training, not wanting to part from each others company and so agreeing that Monday nights would be their nights to be friends together, away from everyone else. Their friendship was still a secret, even after so many months. An even bigger secret was the feelings they still held for each other, neither being brave enough to admit them to the other. Neither had accepted them fully themselves yet, and so they were content to be friends for the time being.

"Wha- What do I do?" Draco was panicking, and if Harry wasn't in so much pain he would have laughed.

"Don't worry" Harry grimaced "Its easing off, I just need to-"

Harry attempted to get up but Draco pushed him back down "Wait for it to stop completely before you move, you could fall and hurt yourself"

"I need to tell Dumbledore" Harry growled trying to stand again and failing miserably when Draco stood in his way

"Come on, I'll help you" Draco said pulling him and making him rest his weight on the arm that kept his body upright.

"I'm not an invalid Draco"

"I know you're not, but you're hardly going to make it all the way up to Dumbledore's office if you cant see are you? And if anyone sees us don't expect me to keep hold of you" Draco laughed nervously.

Harry just smiled and concentrated on making his way carefully up to the headmasters office. When they arrived outside the door the pain had subsided completely.

He wondered what Dumbledore would make of it this time...

* * *

Alex listened closely.

He had woken to the sound of voices, and not wanting to be found by any old person, sensibly stayed hidden behind the tree, the opposite side to which the voices were coming from.

"_Its---ah! Its my scar"_

"_Wha- What do I do?"_

There were two of them. Both male. They didn't sound all that dangerous but Alex couldn't be sure, they sounded more scared if anything.

He listened and waited, and eventually they left. He watched their backs as they walked away and followed their path, they were heading for the ruin...

But there was no ruin as there had been the night before.

In its place stood a massive, stone castle. One light shimmering dimly in the topmost window in the last of the darkness before dawn came.

Alex looked on, astounded at the sight before him. Without looking away from the sturdy structure in place of the run down shack, he nudged Willow awake and nodded towards the castle.

Willow gasped when she saw it. Now it was lighter and more of the castle was in view, less in cast in shadow, and it really was breathtaking.

"There are people here as well" Alex whispered to his sister taking his gaze away from the distance to look at his sister.

"People? How do you know?" she asked, sounding worried.

"I heard them talking. One of them was saying something about a scar, and the other carried him off to see someone. Someone called Dumbledore, but they didn't say who they were or who this Dumbledore is. All I know is their names, Draco and Harry."

"Do you think there could be more of them?"

"I don't know. But I guess our only option is find a way to get back to the other bank. They must have come here by boat, we can steal it and-"

"I hate to tell you this Alex but we are in a completely different place to where we were last night. It doesn't take rocket science to work that out!" Willow hissed, trying not to raise her voice.

"How do you get that?"

Willow sighed, sometimes her brother really could be very dense.

"Well, tell me how you think they can bring a bloody great castle on a tiny row boat and stick it in place of the ruin all without us hearing them..."

"Point taken...So what now?"

"I say we go and explore" Willow replied, her eyes lighting up. She got her wish, she had found something. She KNEW there was more to the ruin than everyone thought.

"Oh yeah, coz exploring got us SO far last night" Alex groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.

"Does that look like its about to fall down?" Willow snapped pointing at the castle

"No"

"Well then, the worst that can happen is we get caught and taken home. The best that can happen is we find some stuff out, maybe find out where we are and what these people are up to."

"I doubt they will just 'Take Us Home' if they find us Wil" Alex warned as she stood and brushed herself off

"Don't be such a pessimist"

And she stuck out her hand to help him up. Alex noticed her arm was covered in blood, it had leaked through the makeshift bandage and was now trickling down her arm. She followed his gaze and frowned

"Don't worry about it, we can find some more stuff to bandage it up with when we get inside"

Alex hesitated for a moment longer before taking her hand reluctantly and standing up.

His leg was hurting but he ignored it and limped after Willow who was making her way up to the castle.

It was completely light but it was still very early and they hadn't seen any movement other than the two men by the lake. They took this as a good sign but approached the doors warily.

"You first" Alex whispered. Willow rolled her eyes and slipped inside, just as she had done the night before.

This time however, what they found was much different to their findings the previous night. They stood in a huge lobby. Beautifully carved stone was in every direction they looked and it was completely empty.

They went a little further inside, climbing a few small sets of stairs and came to a smaller room but not by much. Here stood a staircase similar to the one they had destroyed last night, but it was stone, like the rest.

Alex whipped his head round at the sound of voices coming from the top of the stairs.

He grabbed Willow and shoved her behind a wall just as the voices reached the bottom of the staircase and stopped abruptly.

"Oh bollocks" Alex whispered and he closed his eyes, waiting...

Harry felt very stupid. He had forgotten it was the early hours of the morning and of course Dumbledore was in bed, not sat in his office waiting for Harry to come knocking with an update every time his body did something.

Draco had forgotten as well but was telling Harry he could see Dumbledore after breakfast that morning.

"Has the pain gone?" Draco asked as they descended the stairs back to the lobby.

"Yeah, I cant feel anything now" Harry rubbed his forehead where the scar was, and ran a finger along it out of habit.

"Why does it do that?"

"Its when Voldemort is feeling something particularly strongly, or anytime he's close. It happens when he's, angry, happy, you know..." Harry replied sadly

"That's kinda creepy" Draco smiled, trying to cheer Harry up. Harry smiled back. "What do you wanna do now? We have an hour till people start getting up and moving around"

"I was kinda hoping to get a shower before-"

They had reached the bottom of the stairs and Harry suddenly stopped, mid sentence, and stared at a wall on the other side of the lobby.

"What is it?" Draco asked, following Harry's gaze and seeing nothing.

"I thought I saw something." He whispered "Someone"

He kept his gaze on the wall and moved closer. Fingerprints made in blood were smeared on the wall and moved around the corner.

"So what?" Draco sneered "If they are hiding from us then it can only be a couple of silly first years...no one believes what they have to say!"

"I don't think its first years" Harry said, as he looked round the corner to catch a glimpse of two people dressed in muggle clothes running down the corridor away from them.

Harry took off after them, he had no idea why but he wanted to know who they were and why they were watching he and Draco.

"Harry! Where the hell-"Draco, who was very confused, decided to follow him.

Harry in the meantime was racing after the escaping pair and was pulling out his wand in order to stop them. He was choosing between immobulus or just tripping them over when Draco who had now caught him up made the decision for him.

"IMMOBULUS!"

The mystery pair stopped dead in their tracks.

"You're too strong to trip them "Draco smirked "You would have sent them flying"

"Would have been amusing" Harry chuckled

"Not if you were intending on catching them"

Both boys made their way over to the completely still couple. One was male and the other was female, both looking the same age but the girl was slightly taller than they boy.

"I've never seen them before" Harry said looking them over with interest. Draco nodded his agreement and noticed a pendant on the boy. He pulled it out from his torn shirt and looked closely at it.

"What is it?"

"Don't know" Draco replied, running his thumb over the pattern carved into the pendant "Some kind of Symbol"

Harry pointed his wand and took the spell off them. They carried on running but Harry and Draco grabbed them and stopped them from getting very far.

"Please don't hurt us" the girl wailed covering her face with her arm. Harry noticed she had a large gash in her arm that was pouring with blood. He frowned.

"Who are you?" he asked, loosening his grip when he noticed how frightened they both were.

"We just want to go home, we didn't see anything we promise" the boy spoke up

"See what? You don't go to Hogwarts?" Draco asked eyeing him suspiciously

"I don't know what Hogwarts is. Please, just let us get home, that's all we want"

"You...Oh fuck!" Harry cursed suddenly clicking "Draco they're Muggles!"

"Don't be stupid Harry" Draco replied pulling a face "It isn't possible, there are too many spells and wards protecting this place. No way!"

"But Draco, what else can they be? They cant be Wizards, ALL Wizards know about Hogwarts"

"WIZARDS? I'm sorry, but I'm really starting to get confused" the Boy butted in, looking at Harry as if he was a few pips short of an orange.

"See" Harry hissed at Draco who had gone pale and looked as if he wanted to throw up.

"This must have been what Voldemort was planning" Draco whispered looking anywhere but the Muggles "He must have brought them here"

"Can you stop talking about us like we're not here" the girl said, the boy elbowed her in the side and she shot him a look.

"Draco, we cant stay here. People will be getting up in half an hour, maybe less!"

"People? There are more of you?"

They were ignored as Harry and Draco thought about what to do.

"Dumbledore will be in his office soon wont he?"

"Probably"

"We can go up and wait for him, it's the safest place. Come on" Draco grabbed the boy by the shoulders and began to push him up towards the castle, but he began to struggle.

"Will you keep still? We're taking you somewhere safe, we're not going to hurt you we promise" he growled spinning the younger boy around to face him. Draco was older and quite a bit stronger than him so there was no chance of him escaping. He did as he was told and quietly let himself be pushed to their destination.

They arrived at the door to Dumbledore's office without seeing anyone luckily but they could hear the first stirrings of people echoing around the castle.

They knocked and were relived to hear Dumbledore's friendly voice waft through telling them to Enter.

Dumbledore was surprised to see Harry and Draco with two other people he didn't recognize.

His usual warm smile to greet them faded when he saw the looks on Harry and Draco's face.

"My Boys, what is wrong?" he asked, concerned that something terrible had happened.

"We found these two people on Hogwarts grounds" Harry began "They aren't Wizards"

Dumbledore's face fell. He didn't reply for a long while, and just stared at the newcomers, no emotion at all playing on his face.

"How is it that they came to be here?" he finally said, not losing the blank expression on his features.

"We don't know. They haven't said"

"Then ask. It is important we find out"

All eyes turned on the two Muggles and Alex felt it was him time to talk.

"We...we live in a village on the other side of the lake. There was an old ruin on top of the hill on the opposite bank and we decided to go up there. Only, our boat...we couldn't get back. So we slept under a tree on the bank and when we woke up...we were here."

"It is as I suspected" Dumbledore sighed. He got up and accioed a small shiny object from a shelf high up near the ceiling. He run his hand over it and mumbled something inaudible.

The shiny object began to glow sliver and Dumbledore seemed satisfied with its answer.

The occupants of the office watched this with interest and all their eyes followed him back to his desk where he sat back down and took a lemon drop from his jar.

He offered one each to the four that stood before him, all refused.

"I hate to be annoying" the girl suddenly said "but I was wondering if you could tell us where the hell we are"

"You are standing now, in Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry." Dumbledore explained calmly. The two people standing behind you are both Wizards, I myself am a Wizard, and every other person in this school is either a Witch or a Wizard"

"Yeah, OK, and I'm Maggie Thatcher" the Boy snorted, amazed at these people for actually believing this crap.

"Who?" Draco said screwing up his face in confusion

"Muggle, don't worry. You wouldn't know her" Harry replied

"How can he NOT know who-"

"Because he's not from the Muggle world!" Harry was beginning to get slightly irritated with these two

The boy suddenly burst out laughing.

"Tell me" he said between splutters "Is this some kind of a mental institution?"

Draco took out his wand

"Look! He even has a-"he never finished his sentence because Draco got him with a silencing charm. The boy clutched at his throat, opening his mouth but making no noise.

Draco chuckled quietly to himself, proud of his work and turned back to Dumbledore.

"What have you done to my brother?" the girl squealed frantically, her eyes shining with anger.

"He was annoying me" Draco sneered "So I shut him up for a little while"

"Draco don't, you're scaring them. Take it off" Harry sighed, holding the girl back, stopping her from launching herself at Draco in attack. Draco just rolled his eyes and pointed his wand at the boy.

"You're such a spoilsport sometimes Harry"

The boy instantly began shouting obscenities at Draco the moment the spell was taken off. Draco shot Harry a look that said _"now look what you've done"_ and slumped down into a chair.

"Alright, so you've proved you're a freak" the boy shouted

"Young man I will NOT have you speak to my students like that!" Dumbledore had risen to his full height which wasn't all that tall but his voice boomed around his office and he seemed to grow as he stood, scaring the wizards who knew him as much as the Muggles who didn't.

"You are a visitor here and you will be polite and agreeable, do you understand me?"

Both Muggles nodded and Dumbledore sat back down in his chair, all anger seemed to fade from his face and he sighed heavily.

"So...this place is a school?" the girl said quietly. Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes, the best there is so I'm told."

"Of course Hogwarts is the best! Durmstrang is full of total idiots and Baubaxtons is in France which explains pretty much everything..." Draco exclaimed rolling his eyes at the thought of that silly Fleur girl.

"There are more of these places?" the boy yelled

"There will be plenty of time for explanations later" Dumbledore replied "I will need to hear more about how you came to be here and who you are. We can then answer all your questions"

"We told you all we knew. We fell asleep, and we woke up here" the boy explained

"Maybe we should use Veritaserum" Draco suggested, not entirely believing they could just 'wake up' anywhere.

"It is unnecessary, they are telling the truth" Dumbledore replied "I suppose we should have expected something like this. An attack on Hogwarts safety was inevitable and I should have seen it"

"What happened Professor?" Harry asked

"It would seem Voldemort attempted to brake the Muggle Repelling Charm I placed on the castle to keep Muggles away. It is back in place now, I have checked. But he managed to break it for nearly 10 minutes without me noticing. It has probably drained him and he shall need to rest, he does not hold the power to break my Wards" Dumbledore explained, pride showing clearly on his old kindly face.

"But...if he broke it then that means anyone could have seen it!" Harry said, scared that his home would be found. He couldn't let anyone destroy Hogwarts.

"Even if someone saw Harry, the Ward is now back in place and they will have thought it a dream or an hallucination"

"What was the point in him doing it then? Honestly I swear that guy gets thicker by the day" Draco scoffed, swinging his arm over the back of the chair he was sitting in.

"How come we can still see it?" the girl spoke again, her voice had gained some confidence now she knew she was in no danger from these people.

"You have already seen too much, you are inside, you have spoken to Wizards. You know this isn't a trick your mind is playing. The Ward is now useless for you." Dumbledore answered her question, staring intently at her "What is your name?"

She blinked, surprised at the sudden question

"Willow. This is Alex, my twin brother"

"Well Willow and Alex" Dumbledore smiled warmly at them "My name is Professor Albus Dumbledore, I am headmaster of Hogwarts"

"I'm Harry Potter" Harry added sticking out his hand for either of them to shake. Willow took it and shook, followed by Alex who smiled apologetically at him before holding out his hand to Draco

"You are Draco then"

Draco looked at his hand and up at him, his eyes narrowed in dislike. He looked up at Harry who scowled at him, meaning for him to shake his hand. Draco rolled his eyes again and took Alex's hand and shook it quickly.

"Draco Malfoy, just Malfoy to you"

"Don't mind old grumpy guts over there" Harry laughed "He's always like that"

"Will we be able to go home?" Willow asked. She had had enough of her adventure now and was desperate to get back.

Dumbledore's smile faltered. "I am afraid not" he said looking at her over his spectacles "we do not know yet, what Voldemort intended you to do. He may have made you come here, in which case he will have more plans for you. If he has no idea about you both, then he will find out soon enough and go looking for you. Either way you are in great danger. We could wipe your memory completely of the incident but he will force you to remember, he will make you talk. Your home is no longer safe"

A tear made its way out of the corner of Willows eye and traced a wet line down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and sniffed. She understood and didn't bother to argue.

Harry saw and put his arm round her shoulders to comfort her.

"Its ok, this is the safest place you can be"

"For the time being it is Harry, but we are running out of time. My guess is that Draco will be called home. Voldemort will need him to make the spell permanent, this morning was merely a test." Dumbledore rose from his chair and retrieved a piece of parchment from across the room.

"He isn't actually going though is he?" Harry began to panic, not only if he went home would Hogwarts be in serious trouble but so would Draco. Even though Harry would not accept the real feelings he had for Draco he accepted the fact that he was now a permanent fixture in his life. He was his friend, and he wasn't about to lose him.

"No, he will stay. This means Lucius will know of his sons loyalties but there is nothing we can do. This should not matter to Lucius anyway, he has ways of making people do things and I doubt he will hesitate to use them on his own son. Which side Draco has chosen will make no difference"

Draco gulped and looked away. He knew what his father was capable of and wasn't jumping at the chance to experience it any time soon.

"What's the deal with this Voldemort guy? Why is everyone so terrified of him?" Alex asked

"Sometimes I ask myself the same question" Draco mumbled. Harry smiled but stifled a laugh, now really wasn't the right time to be mocking the most evil Wizard ever known.

"Just know that he's one evil bastard and he isn't to be messed with" Harry smiled, telling them what he could do would just scare them and that wasn't helping anyone.

"I am writing to the Order to tell them to come here. They will need to be informed and to quash rumours if any are flying around" Dumbledore said warily, obviously still tired "I am leaving them in your care boys. Take them to the hospital wing to get their injuries seen to and then go and have some breakfast, I'm sure all of you are hungry"

Harry and Draco nodded and motioned for the Muggles to follow them.

"What should we tell people Professor?" Draco asked

"Tell them they are from Baubaxtons, just visitors I have put you in charge of" Dumbledore turned his attention to the Muggles "I would advise you not to speak unless you know what you are talking about. Some Wizards are wary of Muggles and there will be chaos if you are found"

They nodded, both feeling rather shell shocked, and the Wizards led them from the office.

"You didn't tell him about your scar" Draco whispered to Harry when they were a fair distance away from the entrance to Dumbledore's office.

"No point, I know what it was about" Harry replied sighing lightly.

"What was it?"

"Voldemort was happy...very happy. His plan is working."

The rest of the walk to the hospital wing was taken in worried silence.

* * *

**So they were found. woop! At last! **

**OK next chapter: Strawberry Jam and the Slytherin Clan! Muggles get to ask alot of questions that only muggles would ask, Hermione and Ron get introduced at breakfast, Draco gets artistic with some Jam and then gets in a sulk, a playfight gone wrong at lunch turns into a battle of houses, Alex and Willow start to feel a little bit guilty and so take drastic action.... and now my hands are really cold.**

**Lucky Dragon Smile- Rock on is such a cool phrase! :D**

**Lady Of Death- Uh...a bit of smacking may come into it...next chappie! hehe!**

**Demongirl12000- Lol, i love the meat vision thing...i have written some later chapters and i made sure i put it in so look out for it. It isnt EXACTLY like you said but its still meat!**

**And thank you to everyone else who reviewed as well. PLEASE keep them coming, i like the surprise in my inbox, and again with the offers of food....**

**Laterz dudes xxxxxxx**


	8. Strawberry Jam and the Slytherin Clan

**Chapter 7- Strawberry jam and the Slytherin Clan**

"So, let me get this straight... You are Harry Potter, supposed saviour of the wizarding world who is supposed to have died when you were one because you were hit with a killing curse but didn't for some unknown reason and now your soul purpose in life is to destroy the evil wizard that killed your parents with the strong magical abilities he passed onto you."

"Basically"

"And you are Draco Malfoy, the son of a death eater who is this evil guys most loyal servant and he expects you to be one too, but you're only pretending to be evil and are in fact a spy for the good guys and just so happen to be really, really powerful and have just been told that you have to help Harry kill the guy your father basically adores."

"Yup"

Alex scratched his head

"What the hell is the point?!?"

"Uh...what?"

"Why cant it just be simple like us? Someone is evil and greedy- so they take things and kill people. Why bother with all the stupid prophecies and magic and bloodline crap? Why does it have to be so damn complicated?"

Harry and Draco looked at each other, both looking very confused and taken aback by Alex's boldness.

"I...er...don't know?"

They were sat in the Hospital Wing waiting for Madam Pomfrey to tell them they were free to go. Alex and Willows injuries were now perfectly healed and all that was left were small silvery scars that they were told would fade in a few days time.

"I think its kinda cool" Willow cut in "its different"

"Its certainly different! But I mean...WHY do people bother? Take you two for example" Alex continued on his rant, determined to get his point across and understood.

"Us?" Draco growled, really disliking this kid for his rudeness and for being the most unsubtle person he knew.

"Yeah. You come from totally different backgrounds, you are basically total opposites and have been enemies for the last 5 years of your life. And now, all of a sudden you're like the best of friends behind everyone else's backs all because Harry's friends are either poor or not a pure blood wizard. Now to me that sounds stupid"

Harry screwed up his face in confusion. Draco just looked down right pissed off. He knew there was a reason he didn't like Muggles.

"It isn't the ONLY reason I don't like his friends" Draco hissed, trying his hardest not to yell.

"Explain it to me then"

"They...I- I don't know who started it but we have just always hated each other and always give each other new reasons to hate each other"

"That's crap and you know it"

"Hey I didn't ask-"

"If you want MY opinion-"

"NO! I said I didn't ask-"

"You only hate them because you are USED to hating them because that's what your FATHER told you to do"

"And because Weasley insults me as much as I insult him. Harry, you've seen him! He has kept being provocative even when I've kept my mouth shut!"

Harry held up his hands and made out like this argument had nothing to do with him. He wasn't getting involved...mainly because he thought Alex was right, but he wasn't about to say that to Draco. He'd go off in a huff for days.

"What I don't get is if you are such good friends, why it bothers you what other people think?" Alex grumbled

"It isn't that simple Alex" Willow answered for the two wizards "They cant afford to be selfish like that. If they told people they were friends there would most probably be some little mini war in Hogwarts and then they would DEFINATLEY lose the war because they decided they _'didn't care what other people thought'_"

"SEE! SHE GETS IT, SHE GETS IT! SHES NOT A TOTAL IMBECILE!"

"Draco sit down and shut up" Harry scolded. People in beds near them were beginning to stare.

"I think you four can go to breakfast now, instead of sitting in my hospital Wing making a lot of noise and disturbing other patients" Madam Pomfrey had come over and was shooing them out of the hospital wing.

"And don't come back any time soon Harry OR Draco, I'm tired of seeing you both in here nearly every week with some kind of injury"

"Every week is a bit of an exaggeration"

"More like every Quidditch match game!" Harry laughed as they walked out, Madam Pomfrey shaking her head but smiling none the less. She was pleased they were getting along. Maybe she would see less of them since many of their injuries were caused by the other.

"Quidditch?" Alex asked, tuning to Harry "What's that?"

Harry and Draco explained Quidditch to the twins as they made their way down to the great hall. They went on to tell them about the World Cup they had attended and how Harry wanted to play professionally. Then they got into an argument about which team was better and they were still 'discussing' this when they entered the Great Hall.

Breakfast was nearly over but there was still quite a few people there. Hermione and Ron being two of them.

"We gunna sit together or take one each?" Harry asked Draco quietly

"We aren't splitting up" Willow hissed from in front

"There's your answer" Draco replied, raising an eyebrow "We'll sit at the end of Gryffindor table, I don't trust Slytherins with new people."

"OK" Harry nodded "I'll meet you there in a minute, I just have to go and explain to Herm and Ron"

Draco rolled his eyes but agreed and took the twins to the end of the Gryffindor table where no one but a few first years sat.

"Hey Harry" Ron grinned up at him as he approached their usual spot, with a mouthful of toast

"Hi Ron, Hermione" Harry smiled back "I'm not gunna sit here today guys, I have to look after a couple of exchange students from Baubaxtons with Malfoy so I have to stick with them for a bit, that OK?"

"Ugh, poor you Harry, I'd hate to have to spend more time than I had to with that guy. Merlin, I hate him" Ron swallowed and made a disgusted face as he looked over to where Malfoy sat with Alex and Willow who were shoveling down food like they hadn't eaten in years.

"Why are they here?" Hermione asked curiously

"Oh, their uh...parents had to come to England for a bit. You know, business. Didn't want to leave them in France. Thought it would be good for them to come as well" Harry smiled nervously at Hermione who frowned but seemed to accept his explanation.

"OK then guys, I'm gunna eat a bit. I'll see you later" Harry waved and walked away, thanking Merlin he was able to think on his feet.

He slumped down next to Draco, opposite Alex and Willow.

"Here's the deal" Harry began wanting to explain to them what he had told his friends "You are pure blood Wizards, very rich family from France." Harry began

"Harry, they don't have French accents, how do you suppose they pull that one off?" Draco scowled

"Its OK" Willow smiled chewing on an apple "Our Dad is French anyway, we go there a lot. Our mum is English. That can happen to Wizards as well cant it?"

Harry nodded and shot Draco a _"See, I know what I'm doing"_ look and continued:

"I told my friends that your parents are over on business and brought you with them"

"Good one" Draco nodded giving the toast a wary look and deciding on an apple as well.

Just as he reached for one someone slammed a hand down on Harry's shoulder from behind. He yelped and Draco swung round to point his wand in the face of the attacker.

"Hey calm down Malfoy, I'm only coming to sit with my friend if that's OK with you or are you still going to hex me?"

Ron stood behind them with Hermione who was standing slightly behind Ron for protection. It looked as if everyone had been scared by the incident.

Harry lowered Draco's wand for him, he was glaring at Ron and breathing heavily and looked ready to kill. He grunted something and went back to his food.

Harry pulled an apologetic face at his friends and offered for them to sit down, as reluctant as he was to do so.

"We thought we'd come and introduce ourselves" Hermione smiled at Alex and Willow who smiled back, already knowing who these two must be, but neither said anything.

Introductions were made and they sat in silence for a few minutes before Draco spoke up

"If you came over to talk, don't hold back on my account"

"I wasn't, Malfoy"

"Glad to hear it Weasley"

"Why have you been dumped with HIM Harry?" Ron asked, scowling at Draco "Couldn't we have helped you rather than this stupid-"

"I'm helping HIM actually Ron" Harry cut him off, he couldn't have Draco losing his temper. Not now.

"What?!"

"Uh...Alex is Draco's, uh, Pen Friend."

Harry chuckled inwardly. Draco and Pen Friends were never meant to be said in the same sentence. The idea that Draco could have a Pen Friend was so laughable it was like Voldemort having a pet cat he called Fluffy. Draco seemed to have the same train of thought because the moment Harry said it Draco turned to him slowly and...well...if looks could kill Harry would most definitely be dead, and it would have been a painful death at that!

"Pen Friend? HA so the old meanie DOES have friends!"

"Shut it Weasley, my Dad set it up if you must know"

Ron pulled a face and turned to Alex

"You DO know his Dads a Death Eater and he is most probably one as well?"

Alex frowned in confusion and turned to Draco

"But I thought you said you were a sp- OW!!" Draco kicked him hard in the shins to shut him up and Harry decided a good distraction was needed.

"RON!" Harry yelled "Don't make accusations you cant prove!"

"Cant prove? Harry, have you been in LaLa land for the last 5 years?"

Hermione wanted to change the subject, she had heard this argument too many times in the last 5 years

"So what do your parents do?" she asked the Twins "How do they know the Malfoy's?"

Alex, Willow, Harry and Draco gulped. They hadn't discussed THAT. Trust Hermione to ask the one question hey weren't expecting.

Draco had dipped his finger in some Jam and had begun wiping his finger on the table

"_Great time to start getting artistic Draco" _Harry frowned _"A little help wouldn't go amiss"_

Then he looked more closely at what he had done. He had written letters upside down, in Jam. He was telling Alex what to say!

"_Now if that's not clever I don't know what is" _Harry thought to himself. He looked up at Alex who had also noticed what Draco was doing while Willow was stalling for time.

M I N

"_Min? Min? What the hell is Min? God its hard to read upside down" _Harry squinted at the jam smeared table.

M I N I S

"_Minis? CAR SALESMAN? NO! Gah and I was beginning to think Draco was clever"_

M I N I S T R Y

"_Oh, ok then..."_

"They both work for the Ministry" Alex stated "They never talk about which department, top secret, you know" He was proud of himself, he had got a quick explanation of what the Ministry was while they were in the Hospital wing and so knew enough to know what they did there was important and that a lot of it would be Top Secret.

"My Father worked closely with them once, they haven't really seen each other since but he said it would be a nice idea for me to keep in contact with Alex, you know, having the right connections and all..." Draco quickly wiped the Jam off the table using a napkin and began licking his fingers.

Harry watched as he slid his index finger into his mouth and sucked lightly, then took it back out and licked off the remainder of the Jam slowly, savoring the taste.

Hermione had begun to talk again, about the Ministry or something but Harry wasn't paying a blind bit of notice. His attention was on Draco's finger that was now resting lightly on his own lips and his tongue was licking the tip gently. The lingering taste of Strawberry jam kept his finger there, and he began to fiddle with his teeth and tongue with this lone finger as he listened intently to Hermione.

Harry began to lick his own lips, desperate for Draco's finger to be touching them instead of his own.

"_Oh god, I'm done for. I am so completely Gay. And I'm lusting after Draco Malfoy and his __FINGERS!"_

Harry groaned and let his head drop to the table. Everyone looked at him and gave him a confused look

"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned that he might feel ill or something

"Tired" came the muffled reply.

Hermione turned to Ron who shrugged.

"Anyway, me and Ron have to get to first lesson. Will we see you there Harry?"

Harry thought about what first lesson was.

"_Transfiguration. Pants!"_

"I uh, don't think so. We have to show these guys around the castle. I should be around later, I'll see you at lunch" he replied, not wanting to take Muggles into a lesson where they might be asked to show what THEY have been taught, when they have only been in a wizarding school for a total of...nearly 2 full hours. Not smart.

Ron and Hermione made to leave. They waved at Harry who waved back and watched them as they left the great hall together, sighing in relief.

"That was close" he said slumping over and dragging a hand through his hair.

"You really should keep your friends on a tighter leash Harry, you let them run round you in circles" Draco sniffed, finally getting to start on his long overdue breakfast.

Harry mumbled something which Draco just ignored and carried on speaking

"So, if we aren't going to lessons, what ARE we going to do?"

Harry didn't care. Harry had inner demons to conquer. Harry wanted peace and quiet. Harry wanted to throw Draco down on the floor of the Great Hall, right this very second and shag him senseless.

Harry just shrugged.

* * *

As it happened Dumbledore wanted to see them, yet again. So they ended up in his office with about half of the teaching staff, a few members of the Order and Minister of Magic. 

All he really wanted was to make sure Alex and Willow were OK, that Harry and Draco hadn't started arguing and turned each other into things which were incapable of looking after people, and he therefore didn't have to find replacements, and to introduce the Muggles to the people which mattered the most.

Teaching Staff were told that if Harry and Draco were out of lessons then they had permission and were not to be punished, and that if the Muggles were in lessons with them they were to be kept together and were not to be asked to perform magic for obvious reasons.

The Order were told of the happenings at Malfoy Manor and were told to keep an eye out for any suspicious rumours about an old ruin disappearing for 10 minutes to be replaced by a castle. Any Muggle that got too close to the truth were to have their memory erased of such things to keep the whole story under wraps.

It turned out that the Minister was just being nosy and wasn't actually needed, but he explained that he liked to be kept informed to the fullest degree.

Finally Draco was told that his father had sent the letter requesting he be sent home and he was not to leave Hogwarts grounds under any circumstance now that Lucius wanted his son.

"What do you MEAN I cant leave?"

"Draco, you must understand, if you leave your father will be able to get at you and that is something I am not willing to let happen. For your safety as well as the Schools" Dumbledore explained

"So no Hogsmeade?"

"I'm afraid not"

The thing that really annoyed Draco was what Dumbledore said next.

"I also think it's a bad idea you sleep in the Slytherin Dorms. We do not know who is trustworthy and I think it best you sleep away from them where it would be easiest for them to get at you"

"WHAT?!"

Dumbledore ignored his outburst and continued

"That is why I have created a new dorm for you and Harry to share with Alex and Willow for the time being. Alex and Willow will have a separate part to yours but it will be in the same general place"

He smiled then, pleased with his little plan

"I have to share a dorm with...with...HIM?!"

"Hey!" Harry protested with a frown, surely he wasn't THAT bad!

That was mainly what the entire meeting consisted of and as Harry had promised he was able to join Hermione and Ron for lunch.

Second lesson was when Alex Willow Harry and an extremely pissed off Draco Malfoy were shown their new dorm. It was much better than the ordinary dorms but still Draco refused to speak to anyone. Alex and Willows was a bit smaller than Draco and Harry's but they were as happy as they could be.

"Do you think he blames us?" Alex whispered to Willow as they looked around

"Who?"

"Draco, for having to stay inside and having to share a dorm and stuff. I mean, if we hadn't have turned up none of this would have happened and he'd be free to go about as he pleased." 

Willow didn't answer, she was wondering the same thing. Maybe he did blame them. Maybe Harry did too but wasn't showing it like Draco was. She couldn't bare the thought of stopping them from doing what they wanted all because she felt a little adventurous one day.

She decided to push the thought to the back of her mind however, surely if they did blame them Draco would have said. And after all, it wasn't exactly THEIR fault some evil guy decided to mess things up just when they so happened to be there. Was it?

* * *

"Draco say something" 

"Draco..."

"Oh fine you great big ugly moron, I've taken the silent treatment off you for years now, I'm sure I can last a bit longer"

"I'm sorry what did you call me?"

They were at lunch. Ron and Hermione hadn't turned up yet but were due any minute.

"A great big ugly-"

"I HEARD you, I want you to take it back"

"No"

"Pardon?"

"I said no"

Draco made a growling noise in the back of his throat and glared at Harry, daring him not to take it back. Harry dared.

"Take it BACK!" Draco said pushing harry lightly on the shoulder

"No" Harry said pushing him back

"Yes Potter!"

"No Malfoy!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!!!"

The pushing was becoming more violent but neither was taking this argument seriously, they never did anymore. Unfortunately some people from Slytherin had been watching and Blaise decided this pathetic pushing match just wasn't up to the usual Malfoy standard.

"Malfoy! PUNCH HIM!" he yelled across the hall. Everyone stopped to stare at the two boys who were laughing and playfully pushing each other, however they all took it as one of their usual fights and were ready to watch if it got out of hand.

"What now?" Draco whispered to Harry out of the corner of his mouth.

"Way to have a discreet friendship guys" Alex murmured from the other side of the table.

"Do it Draco" Harry whispered back

"What? No!"

"Just do it. They'll know if you don't!"

Draco was stuck. He didn't want to hurt Harry but it didn't seem like he had much choice. He made his decision, hopefully Harry would have sense to move out of the way.

So Draco sucked in a deep breath and swung.

Harry didn't move. Draco's clenched fist connected with the side of his face causing Harry to fly off his seat and Draco heard the faint gasp from Willow as he slumped to the floor.

"_Woo shit" _Draco thought _"Why the fuck didn't he move? Stupid git!"_

"Too...Hard..." Harry groaned from the floor as people began to murmur around the Great Hall.

Draco whimpered in apology and went to kneel beside him

"No, Ron- Hermione, up- Ron Angry" Harry winced as Draco shook his head, not understanding. That is till he was yanked upwards by his collar, choking as he was lifted from the floor and thrown across the floor.

"Hey Weasley! Keep your filthy ginger mitts off him!"

Blaise was now standing not too far away with a very angry looking Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

"He punched Harry, I saw him do it, and he isn't going to get away with it" Ron snarled snatching his wand from his robes.

"I'm SORRY!" Draco called from his position on the floor. If Harry hadnt have been so worried about his pounding head and bruising cheek at the time he would have probably fainted from shock. Draco appologised!

"No you're not Draco" Blaise said taking his own wand from his robes, getting ready to duel if he had to.

"Ron please" Hermione begged "He said sorry, isn't that enough? Leave it now? Look, Harry's getting up, he's OK. He's even helping Malfoy up."

"He's what?!" Ron swirled round to see Harry hauling Draco up from the floor, blood trickling from a gash on his face. He wiped it away quickly.

"Its OK Ron, I told him to hit me" Harry explained hoping this would shut Ron up but it just made him more angry.

"You TOLD him to hit you?" Ron glared for a minute before charging up to Draco and seizing him by the front of his robes.

"You slimy little-"

"RONALD WEASLEY, PUT HIM DOWN!" came Professor Mcgonagall's booming voice from the front of the hall. Ron just ignored her.

"Why is he standing up for you? What have you done to him?" Ron demanded, clutching Draco by his robes even tighter so he began to splutter

"I- no-"gasped Draco, needing air badly.

"Ron stop it you're choking him!" Hermione said trying to pull him off but he ignored her and carried on. Mcgonagall was now charging down towards them. Willow and Alex watched in fascination, who knew wizards were so vicious?

Alex decided this needed to stop, Draco was getting hurt and Harry was trying his hardest to get Ron to put him down but to no avail. He stood up and ran at Ron, as if he were playing rugby. He attempted to tackle him to the floor, hoping to knock his hands from around Draco's throat but just as he did this Ron put Draco down and Alex connected with Draco instead of Ron.

Draco went flying once again and Alex landed on top of him, winding him. Not that he had much air in his lungs now anyway.

"Hey! You little creep!" Crabbe yelled, he wouldn't stand for that! No way! He lumbered towards Alex who whimpered in fright and began shuffling in the opposite direction but he was too slow. Crabbe picked him up easily, and was about to hurt him when Harry produced his wand and shoved it into Crabbes' temple.

"You hurt him, you die" Harry hissed and Crabbe instantly froze. He may be stupid, but he knew when he was in danger.

Blaise and Goyle both retaliated by pointing their wands at Harry, which made Ron point HIS wand at Blaise and Hermione had hers on Goyle.

Stalemate.

Everything in the great hall seemed to freeze apart from this one scene, even Mcgonagall had refrained from intervening because this was a very dangerous situation, and everyone knew it.

Draco stood, taking in the situation that was in front of him.

"_What to do? What to do?"_

"Why isn't your little French friend helping you out Potter?" Blaise sneered "Too much of a wimp I guess"

"I am NOT a wimp" Willow exclaimed standing from her half hidden position behind the table. "Put my brother down and we can all go back to our lunch"

Crabbe snorted

"You think I'm going to just let him go do you? Look what he's done to my arm!"

"You bloody better" Harry replied

"I'll tell you what Potter" Blaise grinned, lowering his wand "Crabbe will put him down only if he agrees to a duel, one on one. I'm sure he can handle it, and Crabbe does SO want his go at killing the French kid"

"I...I er- don't think so Zabini" Harry stuttered, this was bad. Very, very bad.

"If you don't agree Potter you know what'll happen. We all hex each other into oblivion, and I know for a fact you would want to avoid that now wouldn't you?"

"Stop it Blaise" Draco sighed "Crabbe put him down"

"But-"

"PUT HIM DOWN VINCE!" Draco ordered. When Draco ordered them to do something, they did it! No questions asked.

Alex was returned to solid earth, and all wands were lowered or put away. The great hall seemed to collectively sigh in relief.

But no one counted on what happened next. Blaise had never considered himself to be one of Draco's cronies, and so therefore didn't follow his orders. None of them. Which is why, the moment everyone had relaxed his wand was raised and he was sending a curse at Alex.

Alex had his back turned and only spun round just in time to see Harry dive in the way and hear him mutter a short incantation. Harry had sent his own curse to block the one sent at them by Blaise and they met in mid air, flashing as they connected and then disappearing from view.

The occupants of the great hall gasped as this happened, not sure whether to feel relieved or scared.

"Why isn't he fighting Potter?" Blaise demanded, curious as to why neither Alex or Willow had produced wands the entire time.

"You haven't given him a lot of opportunity"

"Don't lie, what's wrong with him? Where is your wand?" Blaise fired the last question at Alex who looked shocked, and he realized he had no idea what to say.

"He doesn't usually expect to have to defend himself during lunch" Hermione retorted, not realizing she had just saved them from one hell of an awkward situation.

Blaise narrowed his eyes at the two newcomers and thought for a moment. His eyes swept over their appearance and their shocked expressions, pale faces giving away not only fear but wonderment as well.

"Who are they?" he whispered finally "They aren't Wizards"

"_Uh oh...not good, not good AT ALL" _Draco quickly snapped into action

"Blaise shut UP!" Draco gave him a look, begging him not to speak any louder and to just let it go. "Not here"

Blaise was, however, extremely angry.

"They aren't Wizards" he said, louder this time so the crowd of students nearest to them could hear.

"They ARENT Wizards" he was shouting now, so nearly the whole great hall could hear him.

"THEY ARENT-"

"Lunch is now over, would all students like to make their way to their common rooms or their next lessons." Dumbledore had cast a silencing charm on Blaise, he couldn't have him blurting all over Hogwarts that there were Muggles running the corridors.

Everyone snapped their attention to Dumbledore as he spoke, and then there was a huge rustling as they all began to move out of the Great Hall.

Everyone except Blaise, Draco, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Alex, Willow, Crabbe and Goyle. There was some serious explaining to be done.

* * *

Blaise Crabbe and Goyle had their memory erased of any incident involving a wandless "Wizard" and the duel at lunch. It was too late however, the damage had been done. Rumours flew all over the school, people whispering and passing notes about Muggles at Hogwarts, non magical folk and even aliens. 

This last one made Draco snort in disgust.

"How stupid ARE these people?"

Harry and Draco tried their best to keep the rumours at bay, telling anyone they heard discussing it that they were Wizards from France and they just hadn't had their wands with them that day. Ron and Hermione were harder to discourage.

"They are Muggles aren't they Harry?" Hermione sighed one night in the common room

"That's why you have to look after them, why you haven't been around lately. Its Him isn't it?"

"No Mione really, they ARE Wizards"

"Don't LIE to us Harry! You haven't been training at all have you? You've been working with Dumbledore" Ron added, beginning to go red in the face

Harry sighed, they knew. It was too late. He may as well tell them, they wouldn't tell anyone, he could ALWAYS trust them.

"OK, so they're Muggles" he shrugged

There was silence while they processed the new information, minds obviously wandering to the same places Harry's had when he first worked out who they were.

The same questions playing in their heads _"Why? How? What Now? What's going to happen?"_

"And I HAVE been training Ron" Harry continued "That wasn't a lie"

They talked about it for a long time before everything was clear to them, what had happened, and how. No one knew what the Order were doing about it, no one cared as long as Hogwarts was safe and STAYED safe. Harry explained that Draco was needed at home, that they couldn't do the spell without him, but he lied and told them he didn't know why and that all he knew was he wasn't leaving and needed protecting from anyone untrustworthy. For the schools sake, he had said.

_And his own"_

* * *

Willow and Alex lay on their beds, looking up at the enchanted ceiling, thinking about the days events. 

They were nearly caught. Nearly found. In effect there was still a strong chance they could be.

"_If I hadn't tried to be so heroic" _Alex sighed to himself, scolding himself for his lack of thought and stupid actions at Lunch _"No one would have noticed our presence, no one would have questioned us"_

Willows thoughts were matching that of Alex's

"_If I'd have just said I was a wimp, if I'd have just stayed hidden" _she was shaking herself for her stupid pride and her eagerness to look good, brave, unaffected.

Both of them were thinking the same:

"_We're causing too much trouble. Someone is going to get hurt"_

"We cant stay here" Willow sniffed, sad that they were causing so much trouble and that there was nothing they could do "But we cant leave either"

"Maybe there IS something we can do"

* * *

Draco was in the Library, not doing much but staring at a book about Potions, eyes skimming the words but not really reading them. He was thinking about other things, including Harry. 

"_Stupid sodding Harry, why does he have to look so hot when he's angry"_

Draco decided to head back to his room, check on Alex and Willow and then go to bed. He wasn't get any work done because of Harry and thought it would be a nice idea to come up with reasons why Harry was annoying on the walk back.

Reason 1. He has annoying Friends

Reason 2. He walks funny, kinda lopsided, like he's drunk...

**Thinks**

Reason 3. He's an alcoholic and I'm the only person smart enough to figure it out. Drunk 24/7 I tell you.

Reason 4. He never brushes his hair. Its always just sitting there on top of his head like...like...a nest for wild animals _"I wonder what it feels like, I bet its actually really soft. Like silk. I could run my hand though... no, wait, back to the list"_

Reason 5. He's always staring at me, or glaring _"Then I suppose you could say that's my fault. I cant control my prettiness, it just happens. And as for the glaring well...I guess I deserve a lot of that. To be honest I don't actually mind, I can glare back and I get to look at his eyes, sooo pretty...Huh? No! Guh! LIST!!"_

Reason 6. He always has to save the day... _"He's so good at it though. So heroic sigh Wait...oh I give up! I am SO amazingly gay! Stick a wig on me and call me Repunzel...hey...that's not such a bad idea..."_

"And yes...I do read muggle fairy tales, anyone have a problem?" Draco was so caught up in his list he hadnt realised he'd said that last little bit out loud. A few passing second years gave him funny looks as they skuttled past him, wondering what the hell he had taken.

Draco gave up on the list. That was still causing him to think about Harry. He reached the door and gave the password, he relaxed slightly...sleep was always good.

He dumped his stuff on his bed and went through to check on the Twins before going to bed himself.

He had to admit, he felt lonely here at night. Harry decided to leave it a few days before moving in, which he knew was sensible but he couldn't help missing his presence. Mainly because it was so quiet, no one else moving around on the other side of the room, no snoring, nothing. Just silence.

Draco knocked on their door and peered round into their room.

It was dark. Their window lay open and the moon cast its light into the room, making one spot on the floor glow brightly.

"Hey, you guys asleep?" he whispered into the darkness, and he took the silence as a yes. He turned to leave but something caught his eye.

The moon was also making the window show up clearly in the dark, and he saw something odd. There was something hanging out of the window. He glanced back at the beds which were unclear in the shadow, and moving forwards, he ripped back the covers and found the beds both empty.

He threw back the curtains that were blowing in the wind and looked down out of the window to the ground.

"_Shit" _he cursed to himself. A sheet was knotted and thrown out the window and it trailed to the ground, footsteps led away from the castle and into the distance.

They'd run away.

Draco lurched away from the window, sprinting up to Gryffindor Tower. He had to find Harry.

Harry was amazed to see Draco come falling through the portrait hole after a few scared looking first years. He was deathly pale and out of breath, struggling to pull himself upright to face a whole room of glaring Gryffindors.

"They've- They've gone" he panted, clutching to the wall for support "They've just...GONE!"

"Draco what are you talking-"

"ALEX AND WILLOW! THEY'VE GONE!"

"Gone? What do you mean gone? They cant have just-"

"They've run away Harry, what do I have to do to get it into your thick skull?"

Harry threw his book that he'd been reading forcefully at the sofa and bounded out of the door as fast as he could, Draco following closely behind him.

Ron and Hermione were left to stare after them, the rest of the common room going back to whatever they had been doing.

"Malfoy called him Harry" Ron said blankly, missing the point entirely a the pair raced to find Dumbledore, to save the twins and to save Hogwarts.

* * *

**Hmmm, its Friday again I know...I like Fridays tho. So maybe I'll update every Friday now instead. Who knows? Plus i got paid today so im particularly happy.**

**Nehoo, PLEASE tell me what you thought...I'm distinctly missing reviews! Come on....as a birthday present for me! LOTS of reviews for my 17th! Its on Friday so lots of reviews would be a nice thing to find in my inbox! Did I spell Baubaxtons right? i dont think i did....bah...someone help!**

**Next Chapter: The Order get involved, Harry and Draco continue to train, a little of what Demongirl12000 has been waiting for, Draco gets in a bit of a stress, a accidental midnight meeting which leads to some fun in a darkened cupboard....but for who?**

**We follow Snape to a death Eater meeting and get an insight to the workings of the Big Bad Fella himself. **

**Ta peoples, laterz xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	9. A Little on the Dark Side

**Chapter 8- A Little on the Dark Side**

Panic was the first and foremost reaction of the Order upon hearing the Muggles had run away. Blame was then thrown in every direction until Dumbledore insisted it was the fault of no one and that Fear would be expected in Muggles if they ever found out about Magic. Especially ones who found out like Alex and Willow had.

It was decided the order would go out and look for them in groups, hoping one would find the Muggles before the Dark Side even found out they were on the loose and up for grabs.

This meant most of the Order would be out and about for the next however long, including Lupin and Snape.

"But what about our training?" Draco asked, slightly miffed that they BOTH had to go. He didn't want training to stop, he had learnt so much, but there was more he still had to know.

"I think you and Harry are more than capable by yourselves" Remus smiled softly "I know you two swot up when you think we're not looking"

Draco smirked, so what if he'd learnt more with and from Harry than both the professors put together?

And so the Order left.

Weeks went by and things carried on as usual. No bad word had been sent back from any of the small groups but then Draco had received no good news either. He tried his hardest to believe that No News Was Good News but he was having some difficulty.

Training with Harry was still on Mondays but they now met in the Library, agreed what to practice and then took all the books they could find to the Room of Requirement. Alex and Willow were never mentioned, and they avoided the subject of the war altogether unless it was directly linked to what they were teaching themselves.

Sometimes they gave up training for a few hours and just talked.

By now, Harry and Draco were very accomplished. They could practically do anything they set their minds to. Wandless magic was a doddle, apparition was like second nature and both were caught on numerous occasions suddenly appearing in the Three Broomsticks or somewhere else around Hogsmeade when their friends could have SWORN they had been at the complete opposite end.

Together they were even more powerful. Dangerously so. Nothing was too difficult. Everything was too easy.

They could read each others thoughts, and they knew they could read everyone else's if they had wanted to but they didn't. It was far too personal, but they could still do it. Harry had insisted he could read a bit of raw meats mind if he tried hard enough. Draco had scoffed and said he was getting a little ahead of himself and he wasn't sure that a bit of raw meat even had a mind of it own.

"Meat vision indeed" he had snorted

He had then added that if it DID have a mind of its own it surely wouldn't sit around being raw and waiting to be cooked and eaten, it would grow itself a pair of legs and run off...

Harry had just laughed and told him he was losing a few marbles...

Draco had asked what marbles were...

But still weeks were still passing by without news and Draco was becoming very worried.

"_Dumbledore must know something, anything!" _he thought to himself.

He knew about his fathers reaction to him refusing to come home. He knew people were out to get him, but none of it worried him. He was worried for Alex and Willow, and of the members of the Order that had gone to find them.

Harry received an owl one morning, Draco watched as he opened it and noticed that the small smile he had on his face fell slightly and he sighed.

He saw Harry look up at Hermione and then shake his head sadly, but he was still smiling.

He put the letter back in its envelope and shoved it into the pocket of his robes.

A thought suddenly occurred to Draco.

Harry and Lupin were close, nearly family. Of course he would write to Harry or Harry to him, despite the fact it was dangerous.

Harry was probably receiving all the information Draco had wanted for weeks now, and Draco was angry. Angry that he wasn't being told anything, angry that his friend was leaving him in the dark about something he KNEW he wanted to know about, angry because people still didn't trust him.

Angry that Harry may not trust him either...

* * *

Harry moved into their new room that week. He was reluctant and didn't want to leave the comfort of his own dorm with his friends but he had to admit, having his own dorm was kinda cool and he was sharing with Draco. Sharing with Draco.

"_Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" _he thought as he dropped down onto his new bed _"Mmmm comfy!"_

Well...he liked Draco a lot, as a friend obviously which made it a good thing.

"_There could be worse people to share with" _he shrugged, flinging his legs up onto the bed and laying back to wait for Draco to come back from dinner.

"_But do I like him MORE than a friend?" _Harry shook himself slightly and made sure that thought stayed firmly wedged at the back of his brain. If he started thinking things like that he was sure to act on them, and it was ok when Draco wasn't near him, but now they would be together nearly all day...anything could happen. And that's where the problem lay...he COULDN'T keep those kind of thoughts shut out no matter how hard he tried.

"_Im just going to have to try harder"_ he thought, frowning _"That or throw Draco out of the window...and that REALLY isn't an option right now"_

That's when he walked in, in his beautiful glory wearing the robes from earlier which were unbuttoned and showing the tight muggle shirt and pants he wore underneath. Harry had to admit it was a sight for sore eyes. He blinked, coughed slightly and smiled at Draco as he walked over to his bed that sat opposite his own.

"Evening Draco" he greeted, watching him as he threw off his robes and grabbed a few things from beside his bed.

"Harry" he nodded back without so much as a glance

"I moved in, I'm officially yours" Harry teased, hoping Draco was in the mood to play their usual games

"No thanks, Potter, I've got better things to do"

"_Obviously not then" _

Harry pulled a face and watched as Draco grabbed what he needed and stormed out of the room without saying anything else.

"_Weirdo" _Harry grunted and went back to thinking about non-Draco like topics. He didn't have much to think about...

* * *

Draco practically ignored Harry after that. Training was like usual but it didn't have the jokey edge to it that it usually did. They went in, worked for a few hours and then went back to their room in silence.

Harry just assumed this was one of Draco's long lasting bad moods and he would be over it in a few days, but a few days passed, and then a few more and he was still ignoring him.

Harry tried to talk to him like usual but he was always blown off, and his attempts at asking what the matter was were even more futile. He resolved that he would just have to wait it out.

In the meantime he decided to spend a lot of his time with Hermione and Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors. Ron was still sore that Harry had to move out and with MALFOY of all people but they were as normal and Harry was disappointed when he had to leave at night. Of course he stayed till they all went to bed and used the invisibility cloak to sneak back to his room after hours.

This particular night however he was so caught up in Draco's behaviour as they both left the dorm, he forgot it and was all the way up outside the Fat Lady when he remembered.

He couldn't be bothered to go back and get it and would rely on magic to get himself back safely later on.

And so when he left the common room at nearly midnight on that Thursday evening, he cast a spell on his shoes and clothes to make them silent as he walked and kept to the shadows, not bothering with a disillusionment charm to hide himself.

He stuck his hands in his pockets and began thinking about Draco again. It was becoming habit now, when he was talking to Ron and Hermione he kept tuning out and missing snippets of conversations and having to ask what they were talking about.

They had got quite agitated with him after the 6th or 7th time and had thrown him out.

"_Stupid ponce"_ Harry thought to himself _"Mucks up everything, why cant he just be happy for once in his life? Has to ruin my life as well as his own with his stupid bad moods. I should-"_

"UUMPH" Harry walked into something solid and landed with a thump on his arse.

"_Sodding hell, NOW what?"_

"For Merlin's sake Harry! What the hell are you doing?" It was Draco, on his patrol of the corridors. Thursdays were his night, and he enjoyed them. They gave him time to think and be alone with no one to disturb him except snoring portraits. That's why when anyone was caught out of bed by Draco they were really for it, disturbing his thinking time would be punishable with death if it were up to him.

"Going back to the room Draco, you know I usually come back around nowish" Harry winced as he stood up and rubbed his bum.

"Where's your sodding cloak? God, I swear you get stupider day by day!" Draco scowled into the dark shadow that was Harry

"_What the hell...is he...touching his arse?" _Draco gulped at tried to locate his eyes so he could concentrate on them, but it was no good, it was too dark and all he could see was Harry feeling up his own behind. Great!

Draco gave up and turned to leave. He was supposed to be avoiding him anyway, so he swung round and attempted to patrol a Non-Potter filled corridor but Harry grabbed him back.

He was sick of this, he was going to get to the bottom of Draco's behaviour so he could concentrate on something OTHER than the blonde for a while.

"What do you want? I have things to do!" Draco grunted, pulling Harry's hand off his clothes.

"I want to know why you're being all weird with me" Harry growled, trying not to raise his voice in fear of being heard.

"Im not, go to bed Ha-"

"You are, you're ignoring me, or blanking me out. What's wrong with you?"

"Lots to do Harry, sorry" he turned to leave again but Harry followed him round and stared at him.

"Tell me what's wrong Draco. I cant do anything if you don't tell me!"

"You shouldn't NEED telling, you should KNOW Harry. I would have thought you trusted me enough to do it automatically!" Draco snapped, suddenly feeling all his anger boil up inside of him

"Wha- Draco! I cant read minds-"

"_Crap I can!" _

"Wait...Scratch that" Harry corrected himself and carried on, hoping Draco was about to break. "but...I need you to tell me Draco, otherwise I'm really at a loss"

Draco gritted his teeth at Harry's insolence

"You've not been telling me ANYTHING. You knew how much I wanted to hear news from the order about the Twins, and you've been receiving letters for Merlin knows how long from them and not told me how they are!"

"I-" Harry stopped, amazed at Draco's compassion "I didn't know-"

"Yeah you did Harry, you knew I wanted to know. If not for myself, for them, their safety as well as my own" he said, his tone softening slightly at the look of guilt on Harry's face. Maybe he had been a little hasty.

"You- you could have asked Draco, its not like they're private"

"No well, you told the Weasel and the Mudblood. Obviously I'm not to be trusted with information like that" Draco hissed, some of his anger returning at the thought of how much time Harry liked to spend time with them. Sometimes he felt he would rather be with them than spend any time with Draco, he felt like a spare part, useful when needed but when there were other more useful parts he was forgotten.

"Is this what its all been about? Ron and Hermione?" Harry sighed

"No!" Draco scoffed "Its...its about-"

"_Tell him...not tell him...tell him..."_

"Shit Draco, someone's coming!" Harry had grabbed him and was tugging him into a classroom to hide before he got the chance to decide whether or not to confess to Harry his feelings. He was just beginning to come to terms with them himself and he was finding it hard to keep them secret.

But, when he was on the verge of telling him he was roughly pulled into a room before he had time to register the fact he didn't NEED to hide...he was SUPPOSED to be out in the corridors. But he let Harry pull him anyway, if they were found then he could protect Harry from Filch.

"Quickly, in here" Harry hissed, dragging a limp Draco over to a cupboard and stuffing him inside.

"Harry, there really is no-"

"_-need" _Draco finished his sentence in his head as Harry covered his mouth with his hand and listened intently for any sign someone had followed them in.

Draco sighed and decided it wasn't all bad. He may be in a cupboard hiding from someone he didn't need to be but he was hiding there with Harry, and it really wasn't big enough for two people, so personal space was minimal meaning they were squashed against each other. No part of their bodies were free from each others touch and so Draco was perfectly content for the time being.

Harry removed his hand from Draco's face and swallowed. Someone was in the room, but they would never find them in here, especially since Harry had now placed the Disillusionment charm on them both, that he had not bothered with before.

"So...what now Houdini?"

"Shut up Drake, you don't even know who he is"

"Ah, that's what YOU think..."

"Teasing me again now are we? Now that you've got your little rant off your chest" Harry wasn't happy. His arse hurt, his leg was going to sleep and he had the object of his affection shoved right up against him in the most undignified manner.

"For some reason, my mood has suddenly sky rocketed" Draco mused quietly "Cant imagine why!"

"Shut up" Harry grunted and he shifted his leg so it could regain the feeling again. This meant he was even closer to Draco however, but pleasantly so. It was less undignified now and they were nose to nose, rather than upper thigh to inner thigh.

"_Tell him? Not tell him? Tell him? Not tell him? Show him...ah..." _Draco was still fighting his inner battle and was on the verge of a break through when they heard the classroom door slam, meaning it was safe for them to get out of the cupboard, but neither moved. They stared at each other instead, Emerald locked onto silver, neither blinking, not wanting to break eye contact in case the moment was lost.

"_Show him...Show him...SHOW HIM! Showhimshowhimshowhimshowhim" _

Draco began to lean forward slightly, never losing eye contact with Harry whose eyes seemed to have opened wide in realization.

They were so close now that Draco had his head cocked to one side, ready to fit his lips to Harry's any second, and they could feel each others sharp intake of breath as Draco came ever closer. Harry felt Draco's eyes flutter shut, his eyelashes brushing his cheek lightly, as he got ready to close the last tiny gap between them.

And then...

"OH JESUS FUCK!" Draco shot backwards as Harry collapsed onto the floor, pulling the contents of the cupboard with him.

Draco dropped his head and smiled to himself, eyes still closed

"_Typical"_ he thought _"Trust Harry to ruin the moment with his clumsiness"_

A whole shelf of things cascaded down on top of Harry, hitting him in all manner of places when finally the shelf decided to follow suit and it landed with a loud clunk on Harry's head.

The last thing he remembered before passing out was Draco pulling him out of the mess of things and carrying him back to their room...

* * *

Severus was fast asleep when the dark mark on his arm had begun to throb with pain. He cursed the day when Tom Riddle was born as he pulled himself up and took in his surroundings

"_Stupid bugger, always in the middle of the night! How anti social can you get?" _

He crawled out of his tent he was sharing with a few other members of the Order and stretched. He would have to hurry if he didn't want to be late.

He had certainly considered whether or not to go when he was called, after all, he was in the middle of a mission to foil the Dark Lords plan so why on earth would he bother going to a Death Eater meeting? But there was a reason, and a good one too. He had to know what they were up to, without that information the war was practically lost.

So he dressed quickly, trying to not disturb the other sleepers and left a note for Remus to find in the morning when they were ready to begin searching for the Muggles again. He hoped he would be able to get back before they woke, he hoped he would be able to get away unscathed but he knew that was unlikely.

He apparated quickly to the usual meeting place and raised his hood to enter. Death Eaters were still turning up when he had taken his place in the circle and was beginning to notice who was there and who was not.

The usual people were there: Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Lestranges etc. Voldemort entered soon after most of the circle was assembled with Wormtail hurrying along in his wake.

Snape knew what this meeting would be about. Word and rumour had spread quickly at Hogwarts about the Muggles. Zabini's ever carrying voice had informed the entire great hall of his suspicions about the new comers and so obviously they couldn't contain it as long as they had hoped.

He also knew there was not only him as a spy for the dark at Hogwarts, there was someone who was really a spy for Voldemort. Unfortunately he had no idea who it was, and even if they had not informed the dark lord of the rumours, then a death eater with gossipy children would have. If not, he would have to do it himself to prevent himself being suspected of spying for the light.

The meeting began in its usual manner, Voldemort going round the circle of death eaters one by one; punishing some for unacceptable behaviour, rewarding others for loyalty. He watched as he bypassed some, threw the cruatius at others and merely warned the rest. Then it was his turn.

Voldemort stopped in front of him, staring him down for what seemed like hours, his piercing gaze penetrating the deepest darkest places in Snape's mind, searching for what he wanted, for what Snape wouldn't give him.

Finally he spoke:

"Any news from Hogwarts Severus?"

He paused for a minute, sussing out whether it was his cue to talk. Voldemort watched the potion masters expressions go from blank, to thoughtful and back to blank again. He remained silent and so he continued:

"Tell me of the new comers"

As far as Snape knew, no one was aware of their absence yet. They had not been seen for a while but he could account for that easily after the scene in the great hall. But otherwise he decided against telling the Dark Lord of their departure from safety.

"They are keeping a low profile due to the rumours spreading around the castle about their identity My Lord" he replied, hoping this would be enough to satisfy him. It wasn't.

"Do YOU know of their identity Severus? Surely Dumbledore has not kept his precious Potions Professor in the dark about such matters?"

"He...he hasn't" Snape stumbled but quickly recovered. He would have to tell Voldemort the truth this time, it wasn't as if he didn't already know so lying would be out of the question.

"They are Muggles My Lord"

"Do they still reside with the old fool? Or have they been sent back home?"

These questions were slightly unnerving but not as worrying as the closeness of the evilest Wizard ever known, to Snape. His mind began to work in all different directions trying to figure out a way of getting Voldemort out of his face...literally.

"They are still at Hogwarts My Lord" he said "They are well protected and looked after"

"My servant has informed me that they have not been seen recently around Hogwarts, why might that be Severus?"

"_I hate that...why SEVERUS? Not Sevvy? Snape? You! would do... Severus though? Bugger what was the question?"_

"I er..."

"You don't know? Have you seen them yourself?"

"_No...wait...oh crap had to say that out !"_

"No, I have not"

"_Well it's the truth...cant see them when they aren't there!"_

"They have been keeping a low profile, as I said-"

"DO NOT, Severus, take me for a foolish man. I know when I am being lied to. Especially when I have been receiving different news from a different source."

"_He's a MAN? Jesus Christ!"_

"I have been informed that they were seen leaving Hogwarts...ALONE"

"_Damn that's a dent in the record..."_

Snape blinked once...twice...

"I have not been informed of such activities. If I had, I can assure you I would have-"

"It is no matter, I have been informed anyway."

Snape began to wonder why the hell he cared so much. He hated Muggles after all. But then Dumbledore's words came back to him:

"_They will be needed to draw others to the castle, to overthrow it. Muggles are renowned for destroying things they do not understand"_

OK so he wanted them to lead others to the site when the spell was complete. But he needed Draco, and Draco wasn't about to leave Hogwarts any time soon...

"What of the traitor, the Malfoy boy?" Voldemort asked then. Snape heard an audible growl from the other side of the circle indicating Lucius was there...listening...

"He wasn't initiated yet...My Lord...he cannot-"

"DO NOT TELL ME WHAT HE WAS OR WAS NOT! He was meant for great things! And still is, whether he is willing to be or not" Voldemort was becoming increasingly agitated, Snape could tell. But why he hadn't been hit with any kind of curse yet was something he couldn't understand.

"I understand you were close with the boy but I must insist you forget this...relationship...you had. He is a traitor, nothing more. And soon he will be dead, there is nothing more to be done"

Snape angered greatly at his blasé comments about Draco's death, brushing it off as a necessity rather than an act of pure evil. He managed to calm himself down however and continued to wait for the point of Voldemort's questioning.

He turned to the whole circle and began to speak then, Snape noticed that Lucius seemed rather put out that he had missed out on a bit of torturing unlike himself. Snape returned the smirk and listened to the Dark Lord

"I am under the belief that there are two Muggles, wandering the Wizarding world alone, unprotected"

The general chatter amongst the Death Eaters made it clear that each and every one of them had their own ideas.

"I am asking that all of you keep an eye out for a young boy and girl of about 15 years of age. Do not go looking for them outright, that will cause suspicion, but those who bring them back here UNHARMED will be greatly rewarded"

He paused for a moment longer before continuing;

"I have decided that a small select group of you shall go out to locate the missing Muggles however...we cannot leave them out there to be found by the wrong sort and I do not believe just any of you will find them without really looking, but I ask it anyway. A precaution if you will. I need everyone on the lookout." Voldemort stated, turning to see the entire circle of Death Eaters "We shall then work out a way of removing the Malfoy Traitor from Hogwarts, when the Muggles have been taken, I'll be trusting you with that Severus"

And he turned, his red eyes narrowed to slits, accusation running through the emptiness behind them.

Snape nodded his understanding and said nothing. It would do no good to protest, and no good to thank him. He had a feeling he would be receiving a just reward for his lack of useful information anyway.

No more was said to him on the matter, and shortly they were all dismissed. They each kissed the hem of his robes and departed hastily. Snape's turn came and he bent to kiss the hem, as he'd expected Voldemort liked to kick a man when he was down and so caught him with the Cruatius as he bent low. Snape fell to his knees, pain wracking his body inside and out, clenching his fists, not caring that his nails drew blood from his palm. He grimaced and bit into his lip, not wanting to scream or cry out, not daring to show a weakness, especially when he could see Lucius grinning wildly to himself as he walked away to join the rest of the inner circle through watery eyes.

The curse was lifted after what seemed like an eternity, but in fact was only a minute

"That is for the casual attitude you take toward your work, a little more spying from the spy wouldn't go amiss"

He looked down at Snape who squinted back

"I shall give you one last chance. While you await your duty, question the keepers of the Muggles...and the traitor. They will know of their whereabouts I am sure. If you do not bring back any useful information I will be forced to do things I may regret" Voldemort sneered then, well aware that he had never regretted killing anyone in his life and he wasn't about to start now.

And so he left him to pick himself up and wander back to the apparition point of the meeting place.

"_I need a hot cup of tea" _he thought sadly as he mustered enough energy to apparate back to the camp site and collapse into his tent.

"_So Voldemort knows EXACTLY what's going on. Shame he isn't as thick as he looks" _Snape thought moodily.

Snape knew they had to find the Muggles before he did and he knew Draco would be hunted down, drawn out of Hogwarts to where they could reach him if he didn't do as he was told. But they needed both to succeed. And that was something Snape wouldn't let them get. Especially when Draco was the one in danger.

He found the note he had scribbled to Lupin and burnt it, before resting off the pain in his limbs and the wariness in his mind, and giving in completely to sleep.

* * *

**I know its a day or two early, but its my bday 2morro so no internet for me, and saturday and sunday im out ALL day. Better early than not at all.**

**Anyway, who thinks im evil? i think im fairly evil...hehe...silly clumsy Harry. Sorry if the meat vision wasnt what u expected...but it fitted pretty well so thanks for the idea!!**

**Next chapter: Harry gets a nice wake up call...twice. But then Harry does the usual Harry thing and is an idiot about it, Harry annoys Ron, we get a glimpse of what the order and the Death Eaters are up to and we find Alex and Willow out alone together. If you read between the lines you get a clue as to what is going to happen. If someone guesses tell me...**


	10. Harry Houdini the Bloody Idiot!

**Chapter 9- Harry Houdini the bloody idiot!**

"Harry? Harry? Yoo hoo? Wakey Wakey egg and bakey!"

"Egg and Bacon? I cant smell bacon, you lie you evil blonde haired loony"

"I will let that comment slide as you are delicate, next time though don't get so cocky"

"Delicate? DELICATE? Im insulted"

"Well, you were knocked out by a small plank of wood, I call that delicate. But if you like I shall have a code name for it: _"As tough as nails"_"

"Better. Now where's my bacon?"

Harry had gone from unconscious to completely out of it. He was most likely asleep but Draco didn't like to take any chances and decided to wake him up, afterall, if he slept too long he'd forget what happened and he didn't want to have to try and kiss him again. He wasn't supposed to do ALL the work, it was up to Harry now.

"I don't cook Potter"

Harry snorted "I can just imagine you in a pink frilly Pinny!"

"You just imagine 'coz its never going to happen. I know you have a kinky mind in that skull of yours, what's left of it anyway"

Harry just closed his eyes and smiled

"And don't use the word pinny, it makes you sounds like a girl"

"I am a girl"

"I'll forget you ever said that, just because I'm so kind. You know in normal circumstances I would have recorded that and made sure everyone heard it."

"They would all have been imagining you in a pinny too"

"I would have edited THAT small section"

Harry still had his eyes closed and was smiling contently. Draco was leaning over him, checking he was still alive and well. His guess was _"pretty much, but may be losing a few brain cells per minute"_

He had the same urge to kiss him, as he had had in the cupboard but he couldn't take advantage. He wouldn't. And it was Harry's turn anyway.

He decided to try and help him out a little though, he couldn't wait forever!

"Do you remember what happened?" Draco asked, feigning curiosity

"A little" Harry sighed opening his eyes to look at Draco who had leaned closer and was smiling slightly. Harry grabbed his collar and Draco's smile grew as he thought his luck was in but Harry only pulled him to the side and forced him to lay beside him so he could see him better.

"I remember we were hiding"

"You realize there really was no need for that" Draco said raising an eyebrow in mock agitation

"You enjoyed it, don't complain" Harry grinned. Draco held his breath hoping he meant what he thought he meant, but Harry just carried on. Obviously he didn't remember.

"I remember I fell over"

"Yeah, scared the sodding life out of me yelling like that" Draco rolled his eyes and then focused them back on Harry

Harry paused and frowned for a minute. His eyes seemed to flicker in emotion for a moment but Draco thought he had imagined it for as soon as he saw it, it had gone and Harry's green eyes were once again bright and clear.

"I...I don't...remember much else" he said, seeming to admit defeat.

"_To hell with not remembering then! I'll make him remember!" _Draco thought

"There was one thing you missed"

"There was?"

They were now lying face to face, on their sides, on one of their beds in their private dorm. Both pillowing their heads with their hands, both their legs curled under their other one, and both staring intently at the other. One waiting for an answer, one waiting for a response. When neither came, Draco took action and lowered his head to hastily catch Harry's lips in a short but passionate kiss. He pulled away when Harry didn't respond to the kiss and looked at him. Neither said anything for nearly half a minute, both trying to suss out what was happening.

Draco decided to try again, and this time he rolled himself so he had an arm either side of Harry, supporting his own weight as he leant down once more. He took it as a good sign when Harry didn't turn away, and he took it as an even better sign when Harry began to kiss him back the moment their lips touched.

Harry's arms moved round Draco's neck and was pulling him in closer to deepen the kiss, and Draco was happy to oblige. In the meantime Draco has rested his weight gently on top of Harry and was running his now free hands through his dark, ruffled hair.

Sometime during all of this, Draco had managed to slip his tongue in to meet Harry's and was now running it along his bottom lip, tasting Harry and loving it.

Harry's fingertips were tracing a soft line from Draco's hair line down his neck, onto his spine beneath his shirt and back up again, making him shiver every time he ran his fingers over one particular point on his back. Harry's other hand was around Draco's waist and was doing the same on the lower part of his spine, dipping into the top if his jeans every now and then. Harry was leaning up into the kiss when Draco tried to arch into Harry's soft touch on his skin, and roughly pulled him back down to be able to drown in the wonderful feeling when Draco tickled the top of Harry's mouth with his tongue.

The mid point on Draco's spine appeared to be his most sensitive spot as when Harry's fingers made their way slowly up, caressing the skin beneath his shirt, Draco couldn't help but groan.

Harry's eyes snapped open then, seeming to realize where he was and what he was doing. He abruptly shoved Draco off him and dived off the bed into a standing position, ruffling his hair with his hand as if trying to get the feel of Draco's hands out of it.

Draco just stared at him from the bed, asking a silent question with his eyes but Harry was refusing to look at him.

"What's wrong?" that question seemed so pointless to Draco now, but he asked it anyway, hoping it was something stupid like _"I nearly burped and didn't want to put you off"_

Harry stood there, dumb struck for a few minutes, staring at the floor, hands shoved deep into his pockets to stop himself from touching his hair.

"I- I- don't know. Im not sure if-"

Draco frowned and had a feeling he knew what was coming.

"_No, not now. Not when I'm FINALLY coming to terms with this" _he thought, determined not to let Harry walk away without telling him why.

Draco got off the bed and stood in front of the raven haired boy he had been on top of only a few minutes previous. Harry's eyes were still trained to the carpet and so Draco ran a hand down the side of his face, finishing at his chin, cupping it and lifting Harry's gaze to meet his own.

"If what?"

Harry's eyes blazed a brilliant shade of green and Draco noticed that they were a different shade than before. They seemed more vibrant, full of emotion and feeling, swimming with anticipation and lust but burning with anxiety and confusion. The colour appeared to dull however when Harry blinked and then Draco realized that Harry had begun to speak.

"This is just- I don't know. Really sudden. Im not even sure if I'm- well...you know" Harry shrugged and let his head fall back to face the floor

"It just seems wrong that we're here together, in warmth and safety when the twins are out there alone and terrified. I feel like I should be DOING something for them Draco. Not sitting here snogging your brains out, even if it is what I want. It just seems so selfish"

"I understand how you feel Harry, but you know as well as I do there is nothing that either of us can do right now. We just have to sit it out, and I know I'd rather sit it out and wait WITH you rather than without" Draco replied softly, enveloping Harry in a light hug. Harry rested his head on Draco's shoulder and sighed into the fabric of his shirt, taking in his familiar scent, one arm wrapped lazily around his waist.

"It isn't just that Draco" Harry whispered "I love having you as a friend and I cant and WONT lose that. If it doesn't work out I'll lose it, and I'd rather have you forever as a friend than nothing at all" and with that he pushed away from the grip holding him against the warmth of Draco's body and slipped out of the dorm door, heading for Gryffindor tower.

He couldn't sleep there tonight, things needed to settle, and he needed to think without Draco being around him.

Draco could only watch Harry leave, he didn't know what else he could say or do. He couldn't argue with Harry when he had said something so sweet, he didn't want to dispute the fact he wanted to keep Draco beside him even if it was only as friends. He just had no idea how to convince him that it WOULD work if they wanted it to, and so instead he fell back onto the bed when Harry had disappeared through the door and squashed his face into his pillow in frustration.

"_God he can kiss, how the hell does he do that?"_

He HAD to have Harry, there were no two ways about it. He wouldn't be able to live if Harry wasn't there for him and being with him in a greater sense of the word would ensure he would never leave him. Obviously Harry felt differently.

"_What can I do? I need him to be able to trust me" _he thought turning over onto his back and staring a the ceiling. _"I need to show him that Im trustWORTHY, and I need to show him exactly how I feel"_

Draco fell to sleep with a clear idea in his head of what he needed to do and how he was going to do it.

* * *

_"What the hell was I thinking? I've wanted that for...for...so long...and when I get it what do I do?"_

Harry was pacing his old dorm room mumbling to himself in incoherent tones while the rest of the tenants could only watch and hope that he'd stop before he wore a hole in the floor.

_"I was there, with him! I was getting what I have dreamed about for months and I go and push him off me! Oh Merlin he must HATE me!"_

Harry was now walking in circles and rubbing his head furiously, either trying to rub out the memory or trying to knot his hair so badly there would be no chance of untangling it the next day.

"Harry, listen" Ron had come up behind his friend and was tiredly looking at him through bleary eyes "Its nearly one in the morning, why don't you go-"

"NO RON!"

A muffled _"Shut the hell UP!"_ was heard from underneath one of the blankets on Seamus' bed but the rest had given up a long time ago and had nominated Ron to get his best friend to either shut up and go to bed or go back to his own dorm and keep Draco awake.

"I cant...I uh- Draco was asleep and he gets angry if I barge in while he's still sleeping" Harry said, shiftily looking at his old bed which now lay unslept in "I'll...I'll just stay here"

"OK, but if you're going to can you PLEASE go to bed Harry, we're trying to sleep!" Ron pleaded, hoping Harry didn't start yelling again.

"Yeah ok Ron, Sorry Ron, Goodnight Ron" Harry mumbled as he crawled into bed with his clothes on and covered his head with the sheets.

"_Im just going to have to avoid him. I cant look at him. Ugh sooo embarrassing. What the HELL was all that CRAP I spouted about losing him? Jesus, how gay did I sound- wait...I am gay. Aren't I? Oh fuck it of course I am! Shit shit shit, I need a shower...."_

His thoughts carried on like that for the next few hours until exhaustion took over and he fell into a restless sleep.

* * *

While Harry and Draco were contending with their own private battle, there was more to deal with around Hogwarts. Rumours grew and now it was going around Hogwarts that there were Voldemort's followers roaming the school and they were just waiting for the right time to strike. Their disappearance made suspicion shoot to an all time high and people assumed they had been found out and got rid of before they could do any damage. Of course Blaise had taken credit for this but he had no idea what they were talking about, he no longer remembered the display in the great Hall and he knew no more than anyone else. That still didn't stop him passing his own opinion.

The Slytherins were the worst of the bunch, being the loudest and most outspoken, and Harry knew it was mainly them passing the worst of the rumours.

They knew something was up and they weren't going to let it go, no way, not for a million galleons. Especially since Draco's sudden disappearance from their dorm.

Blaise was caught a number of times trying to scare first and second years into believing that they were going to be taken from Hogwarts any day now and that Dumbledore was going to let it happen. Even that he was in on it all and he was going to leave everyone.

Harry and Draco still tried to keep rumours down to a minimum but it was impossible to stamp them out all together, even with Hermione and Ron's help.

They tried their best anyway, even if Harry was decidedly ignoring Draco and running away whenever he saw him. It was making it increasingly difficult for Draco to put his "get Harry" plan into action. Maybe that was a good thing though...because it wasn't very good.

Meanwhile, the Order were having no luck in finding the Muggles. They had started off by scouring the entire forbidden forest twice, asking all manner of creatures along the way...well...the least dangerous ones anyway. None of them had seen Alex or Willow and so they moved onto outside of the Hogwarts grounds after a week.

They looked in all nearby villages, explaining to residents the importance of finding them so that if anyone were hiding them they would give them up. No luck however.

The next check point was Hogsmeade, and then Hogsmeade station, making sure no one had seen them boarding a train recently. No sign of them. So they began checking along the track, hoping the Muggles had sense enough to follow the tracks, in hope of getting somewhere.

It had now been nearly a month and there had been so sign of them anywhere. If they were around, or had been around, they certainly covered their tracks well.

The Death Eaters sent out to look for them were having just as much, if not less luck then the Order. They had made slow progress and decided that looking alone was getting them no where. Instead, they decided to follow tip-offs from the Spy inside Hogwarts and decided that the only way they were ever going to get the Muggles was to let the Order find them first.

The Order were stupidly sending Owls backwards and forwards to Hogwarts, telling them of their progress and they either intercepted the owl, read it and sent it back on its way, or let the spy read and discover what was happening and tell them where to head next.

The owls were however, lacking of important information thanks to the side of the lights suspiciousness and so it was always a gamble for the Death Eaters. They stayed a good few days behind them though, so they were never found.

The more progress the Order made, the closer the Dark side came to beating them to it.

Alex and Willow had no intention of being found anytime soon though. They left with that intention and they had not regretted it so far. They had little food, shelter and warmth but at least they weren't hindering Harry and Draco anymore.

Alex was sure they would find their way home eventually. They had to. That's the one place they had never wanted to see more, even if their home life wasn't all that great. Their father was French and came from a totally French family. He was an obnoxious git too, and both Alex and Willow wondered why the hell their mother had married him in the first place. But then their mother never really seemed to act like a mother should. She acted like she hadn't carried two children for nine months and acted more like they were a burden than a blessing.

Still, they missed their home, as unorthodox as it was. At least it was warm and had food.

Another thing they missed was sleeping in a warm bed. Sleeping rough every night was wearing them out and they were already struggling against malnutrition as well as weakness, lack of sleep was just another thing to add to the pile of growing problems.

When they did get to sleep at night, they had nightmares, but not ordinary nightmares.

They were as if they were really there, living the dream. They saw images of a woman being killed, and buried, the most disturbing thing being the man doing the killing was their own father.

It was dark in the dream, cold, lonely. Exactly like the atmosphere at night sometimes after waking from one of the reoccurring dreams they BOTH were having.

All they could do was watch as they saw this woman they felt so strongly for die at the hand of their father, painfully slowly, as she screamed their names and cried out for their safety.

Neither of the twins understood the dream, and had lasted night after night of it. They would just have to last a little longer if they wanted to get home.

Just a little longer.

* * *

**Blimey was that a short one? WOO party 2morro!!!! Hahaha and i've been SO busy these past few weeks with college, and driving and so on so i havent got very far with the next chapters. Im still ahead tho!**

**OK, glad you liked the Meat Vision. I have to say it was pretty random when i wrote it, i remembered it and added it in. Voila! And yes the very first line is from Kill Bill Volume 2. Classy film dont you think?**

**OK this must be short, im being pestered by Slytherin Snakes to get writing. Wasnt it cute he devoted a story to me? Well, since this was MY first slash fic i devote this entire fic to her since she keeps telling me she loves it and she has helped me when i really really needed it!**

**OK next chapter: Draco is STILL planning his way of getting Harry so he goes snooping in Alex and Willows room for "romantic stuff" with disasterous effects. And that all leads on to the rest of the events in the chapter which i REFUSE to disclose.**

**lalala, dododo. REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW pllllllllleeeeease! I beg of you! Do i get my cookie now? **


	11. The Pendant

**Chapter 10- The Pendant**

Draco had decided not to go ahead with his original plan to make Harry think twice about pushing him away. Not only was it really awful and would probably make things worse, but he was a coward as well.

That was difficult enough to come to terms with without Harry then flatly refusing him a second time if he ever plucked up enough courage. That was one thing Slytherins lacked...the Gyriffindor courage.

So Draco went back to the drawing board, trying to think of a plan where he didn't have to do much but it was so terribly romantic that Harry couldn't refuse. Trouble was everything that was terribly romantic followed a similar pattern: he had to be present at them all!

He was beginning to think that sometimes Granger and the Weasel could be useful and he was considering getting them involved if he could just convince them he was serious. But then he realized it was probably a far fetched dream to think Ron of all people would take THAT news well. And then if Weasley did all the romantic stuff Harry was likely to fall for Ron and not 't have that. No...that was just wrong.

Draco was lying face down on his bed, breathing in the warm scent of his pillows. Harry hadn't come back to the dorm until Draco was asleep for nearly 3 weeks now, so Draco didn't expect him anytime soon. He never showed up and Draco only ever knew he DID come back was when he woke up during the night to see him sleeping soundly over the other side of the room. Draco noted Harry's friends drawn faces, pale complexions and the bags under their eyes: Harry was driving his old dorm mates potty.

And it was all because Harry was probably scared shitless of Draco pouncing on him, which Draco definitely would NOT do...he was a Malfoy! He had SOME dignity!

Draco pulled himself off the bed and decided to walk around the dorm, maybe he would find his inspiration. He stood and cracked his neck and back loudly before wandering over to Harry's bed and taking in the amount of junk piled on top of it.

"_Messy Bastard" _Draco thought, as he rummaged through it trying to find something of interest.

Draco threw everything down onto the bed again once he saw there was nothing but what it seemed at first glance: a pile of crap. He made a mental note to himself to make sure Harry was better at staying tidy if they ever got together. Draco certainly had high hopes of thinking of a plan.

When nothing took his interest in their room, he moved into Alex and Willows room.

"_Muggles are very romantic beings"_ Draco mused as he scanned the darkened room, waiting for something to catch his eye _"Maybe they have something I can borrow"_

When nothing jumped out at him from his position in the doorway he strode confidently into the room, straight over to their table between their beds.

He pulled open a drawer and began to rifle through the belongings they had left behind. Now usually someone would feel guilty about going through someone else's things when they weren't there but Draco only acknowledged the feeling for a second before continuing to nose around.

He was about to give up and go back to asking his pillow for advice when something finally made him stop.

Draped over the head of the bed was a pendant, exactly the same as the one Alex had been wearing the day he and Harry had found them wandering Hogwarts alone. Draco hadn't really paid much attention then, assuming it was just a bit of jewelry but now, for some reason, it was drawing him to it.

Slowly, he unwound it from the bed post and held it up to the light from the window, studying the pattern in detail. It was a symbol of some kind, possibly Japanese but it was a weird kind of Japanese symbol if it was. It didn't really seem Muggle like, which was part of the reason it interested him so much.

It was silver, and glistened in the light streaming in from the window. Draco frowned slightly when he thought he saw it glow blue, but he chuckled to himself and discarded it as another Muggle object with no special qualities.

"_Must be Willows"_ he sighed placing it back on the bed post _"a family thing"_

He stared at it hanging there for a while, unmoving. He just stared, until finally he gave in and took it back off the bedpost and held it tightly in his palm.

HE would take care of it for her till she came back, they may both be annoying brats but he missed them and he hoped to Merlin they were safe. So he held into the pendant with all his strength, till the sharp edges cut into his palm and made an indent in the skin. Draco shut his eyes tightly, silently praying they would be found soon and he held on tighter still as if he wanted the Pendant firmly wedged into his palm, cut deep into his skin, implanted there forever.

He stood like this for a few moments, until he could have sworn something felt different. Slowly, Draco opened his hand and held out the pendant in front of him.

"_OK, that's not supposed to happen" _he thought as watched a blue light leak from the pendant, steadily growing in brightness. Draco shut his hand again, willing the light to go away, be part of his imagination. The pendant became hot, but still he didn't let go, not even when the blue light filled the entire room and the metal encased in his hand became so hot it was melting the skin beneath it. He couldn't let go, his hand was frozen around the pendant.

Suddenly, Draco was thrown from his feet against the far wall, sliding down it as he collided with the stone. The light was fading now but still he couldn't unclasp his fingers, which stung and were disfigured with burns.

Draco passed out from the pain in his hand and the fogginess that was filling his head, everything was fading to black, the last thing he noticed before he fainted was the lack of something running through his being and the loss of the magical tingle in the tips of his fingers.

Draco Malfoy was a Wizard no more.

* * *

Harry had worked out that Draco couldn't stay awake past 2 in the morning, so that's what time he usually crept from Gyriffindor territory, down to his private dorm. Harry had figured this out from the many nights he had spent watching the marauders map, waiting for when Draco would move towards his bed and cease to move for a few hours.

Ron was beginning to ignore Harry if he didn't leave before midnight as he was desperate for sleep, as were the rest of the dorm. Harry didn't mind though, he found it quite peaceful sitting on his bed of a night listening to the rest of them snore while watching Draco go about his business on the map.

This night however something began to change. Draco had been in Alex and Willows room, milling around and Harry guessed he was being his usual nosey prattish self. But as he watched he saw Draco stood still in the room, and he wondered why he had stopped. It was only when the point that was Draco began to fade, did he really start to wonder what Draco was up to. The point on the map flickered continually while Draco stood stock still in the center of the room, and when Draco's point was thrown across the other side of the room into the wall Harry had really begun to think Draco was up to no good.

Harry decided to go and spy on whatever game Draco was playing and stop him if it was anything stupid, but as he climbed off the bed and donned the Invisibility Cloak to leave, he checked the map and saw that Draco's point had disappeared completely off the map. Harry scanned the entire map but he was no where in the castle.

"_Draco wouldn't leave"_ he told himself _"He couldn't leave!"_

Harry stopped thinking sensibly at this point, he stopped thinking anything at all as he raced down to the dorm as fast as he could go, nearly squashing Mrs. Norris in his attempts to get there as quickly as was humanly possible.

He burst into the dorm when he arrived, forgetting his original plan of spying on Draco's mischief but the room was empty anyway. It was empty and dark and a breeze blew in from the partly open window. Harry snapped out of his trance and flung open Alex and Willows dorm door, remembering Draco had been in here when he had just disappeared. Harry scanned the room and saw nothing...but he heard a quiet groan from the floor. Looking down Harry saw Draco slouched against the wall by the door, bleeding from the hand and barely conscious. His breathing was shallow and slow and Harry could only stare at the withered form struggling to keep awake. Another groan from Draco was enough to snap Harry into action however and he leant over him to keep him awake.

"Draco?" Harry whispered gently, trying to keep the panic out of his voice "Draco?"

There was no reply. Harry held back tears as he looked over Draco's body for a sign of attack or anything to tell him how this had happened. When his eyes fell on Draco's hand that was lying in a pool of blood on the floor he brought his own hand to it and unclenched the fist that Draco had formed around the pendant. It was embedded in his skin, and was still glowing a lightish blue. Harry took the pendant and carefully put in his pocket. He then cast a spell to lighten Draco's form so he could be carried to the Hospital Wing.

Whatever had happened, it was something big.

* * *

Draco thought he must have woken up several times while he was in the hospital wing but they all seemed like short wonderful dreams because every time he awoke slightly, even though he was still groggy and in pain, he could feel a hand holding his own tightly and he could hear a familiar voice whispering to him to sleep some more and that he would stay right by him until he was better.

"I'll look after you Draco" he heard the voice whisper.

And so Draco did exactly as the voice had told him to. When he finally woke up, feeling much better than he previously did he knew it was because he could feel someone else lying on the bed with him. He knew exactly who it was as well. Harry was pressed up against Draco on his bed, still holding his hand and his head was gently resting on Draco's shoulder. He could feel Harry's breath on his neck and it was making him shiver just knowing he was there with him, keeping him safe.

"If I could wake up like this every morning for the rest of my life I would die a happy, and content man" Draco mused aloud, snuggling further into Harry's arms and sighing.

"You're awake then" Harry mumbled into Draco's neck. Draco felt him smile and he couldn't help but smile as well.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Draco asked, turning to face Harry. He didn't realized quite how close they would be, but neither moved and stayed laying wrapped in each others arms face to face.

"No, I was just resting my eyes" Harry replied, smiling and repositioning his arm to drape over Draco's upper back so he could play with his hair "I was waiting for you to wake up"

"You should sleep, you look exhausted"

"That's coming from you is it?" Harry said raising an eyebrow. Draco just smiled and shut his eyes again, savoring this moment as the most wonderful time of his life. Draco wanted nothing more than to kiss Harry, he needed it, wanted it so badly. But he kept himself in control, he didn't want to chase Harry away again.

After a few minutes of silence Harry spoke again:

"Dumbledore said he would come in to see you if you woke up today. He...he-"

"He what?" Draco asked, eyeing Harry

"He wants to know what happened Draco. But if you don't want to talk about it yet that's fine. I can tell him you're still asleep" Harry was still playing with Draco's blonde locks and this was causing him some distraction. He sighed and smiled

"Its fine Harry, really. I cant remember much, but I'll tell him all I know"

Harry brightened at his statement and made a move to get up. Draco wouldn't let him however and kept his grip around his waist tight.

"Draco, come on! Dumbledore wanted me to get him as soon as you were awake!" Harry laughed, fidgeting.

"Please, Harry. Stay just a little longer, you're keeping me warm." Draco asked, looking at him with pleading puppy dog eyes until Harry gave in and settled back down.

"Do you know how worried you had me Drake?" Harry said looking into Draco's eyes, his own full of concern.

"I know, I'm sorry. I promise I wont throw myself against a wall again and pass out" Draco chucked. Harry was serious however

"Draco, this isn't funny. You didn't just 'pass out', you nearly stopped breathing at one point, I was going crazy" Harry replied sternly

"Oh..." was all he could say in reply "I- Oh Harry why the hell...stop bloody crying!"

Harry had begun to sniffle slightly, and a lone tear traveled down his cheek. Draco wiped it away with his thumb and pulled Harry in for a hug.

"Im ok now though Har, I'm fine. I mean, I feel slightly weird but other than that I'm great!"

"You stupid twat!" Harry said sniffing and punching Draco in the arm "That's for nearly dying and making ME nearly die of worry"

Draco laughed and let Harry go. He wiped away a few more stray tears and wiped them on Harry's sleeve.

"Thank you for worrying about me" Draco whispered into Harry's ear and as he moved away he placed a light kiss on his cheek. He then touched foreheads with Harry and looked into his bright emerald green eyes.

What happened next was the last thing either of them expected, but it happened none the less. Harry leant forward and kissed Draco. It started off as a gentle peck as Draco's had been seconds before but now Draco had got what he wanted he wasn't about to let go. He deepened the kiss, tasting Harry as he had done the first time they had kissed and it wasn't long before their tongues were finding each other again.

Harry had no intention of pulling away this time, he had nearly lost Draco and he couldn't bear the thought of him dying without telling him how he really felt. He had decided while Draco was still unconscious that if he ever woke up, he would be with Draco no matter what. That's why this time, instead of pushing away he was pulling him closer, running his hands through his hair just like Draco was running is good hand through his own.

Due to circumstances this kiss was more desperate, wanton than the last, but both decided it was definitely their best.

They pulled away only to catch their breath but before Draco had a chance to go back for more Harry took the chance to say what he needed to.

"Im sorry I pushed you away before"

Draco just smiled and kissed Harry lightly again, more gently than before.

"You're here now" was all he got to say before the infirmary door was pushed open and Harry jumped off the bed away from Draco's embrace. Even though he knew they couldn't be found out Draco still pouted at the loss of contact and turned to scowl at whoever had interrupted them.

"I came to see if Mr. Malfoy had woken up. I guessed he had when you didn't return" Dumbledore smiled fondly at the boys and sat on the chair by the bed.

"What on earth is the matter Harry?" he asked then "Sit down!"

Harry smiled to himself and sat on the edge of Draco's bed waiting to hear what was said.

"How are you feeling Draco? Better I hope?" Dumbledore fished a small bag from his robes and took a lemon Drop from it, before offering it to Harry and Draco. Both refused, mainly because Harry would have probably thrown it up as he was still in shock and Draco always refused.

"Im feeling pretty much OK Professor" he replied and thought it best to tell the absolute truth no matter how much he wanted him to go away and leave him and Harry alone "Just...I don't really know. I feel...god this is going to sound stupid...I feel empty."

Dumbledore sucked thoughtfully on his lemon drop and took the pendant from inside his robes.

"Do you think this has anything to do with it?" he asked, setting it down beside Draco. He stared at it with a strong urge to snatch it and throw it as far away from him as he could.

"Im certain of it. I don't know what its done to me, but it did something"

"That it has Draco. Could you tell me what happened? Or is it too early for these kind of questions?"

Draco shook his head "I don't really know. I was holding it in my hand and this blue light came out of it. It was like it was forcing me to clutch onto it and my grip just kept getting tighter the more I wanted to let go and then everything just exploded inside my head and went black. That's when I started feeling like something was missing"

Dumbledore nodded and stood up. He placed a firm hand on Draco's shoulder and looked right into his eyes.

"This isn't any normal pendant Draco" he said "This is what we call an Anima-Calculo. It means Soul Keeper in Latin"

Draco pulled a face "Soul Keeper? What so its got my soul?"

Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh and sat back down.

"Not at all Draco. No, not you're soul but what could be considered as part of your soul, part of who you are"

When Draco made no indication that he understood he continued in a deeply grave tone of voice "Its taken your magic Draco"

Draco could only stare back at his elderly headmaster, totally immobile. He felt his throat constrict tightly and his hand found its way to his mouth trying to stuff in the air that was escaping his gaping mouth. He regained his composure and took a deep breath before replying:

"What the bloody hell? What do you MEAN its got my magic?"

Harry placed a hand gently on Draco's arm to calm him, yelling at Dumbledore would get them no where.

"I understand what you must be feeling Draco but don't let this deter you. There is always a way of getting it back. That is actually one of the main reasons why I am here" he explained

Draco blinked and let him carry on

"There is an incantation I can perform that will return your magic to you. But before I do that I must ask you. Where did you find this pendant? Do you know whose it is"

Draco smiled and shook his head "I found it in Alex and Willows room. I saw Alex had one on too when we found them so I assumed they both had one as like a family kinda thing. Alex must have found it when they were sneaking around and left it here when he left" Draco shrugged and looked apologetically at the headmaster but Dumbledore's face was resolute.

"You were right to assume it was theirs Draco, because it is. And you were also right to assume they both have one"

"But...It cant be theirs-"Harry began, his face twisted in confusion

"Im afraid they aren't what they seem to be" Dumbledore interrupted "I should have remembered them when I first saw them, unfortunately I didn't otherwise we would have been spared all this mess. But it is as it is" he sighed then and rubbed his forehead.

"What? So...you know them?" Harry asked. Draco was just trying to process all this new information.

"I knew them when they were born, yes" Dumbledore said "I was close with their mother, she was a teacher at Baubaxtons and was married to a French man. He was, to put it lightly, very controlling. But she loved him none the less. Alex and Willow were born but she never named them while she was alive. That's why I didn't recognize them when they turned up"

"What happened to her?" Draco asked, finding his voice

"When the twins were born she moved to England with her husband. He didn't know what she was then, he only assumed she was a teacher at a normal boarding school but he found out. I don't know exactly how he took that, but I know he didn't take it all that well" Dumbledore stopped to think about his story, it was obviously difficult to recall "He killed her. He murdered her in front of her own children so you can guess what his thoughts are on wizards." Dumbledore sighed again

"That's...oh Merlin that's awful" Draco winced when he remembered Harry had seen his parents die as well. He snatched Harry's hand and squeezed it hoping Dumbledore either wouldn't notice or not mind and let it go. Harry smiled at him and squeezed back.

"Yes well, luckily he didn't kill the twins. He had never seen any evidence that the Twins were magical so he kept them. He named them himself, raised them with a new wife he told the twins was their mother and they don't know any differently."

"They don't know their mother is dead?" Harry exclaimed "That's evil. I thought I had it hard!"

"So, how come they aren't wizards?" Draco asked curiously "Are the squibs?"

"No, no. They are Wizards" Dumbledore replied, smiling cryptically "That's where these come in" and he held up the Anima-Calculo "Their mother knew their father would find out and take it badly, so in case she had to leave the Twins she kept them safe from him by storing their magic inside these. Very clever, if we think about it. Unfortunately her plan included her leaving for a while and coming back to claim her children, she never imagined he would kill her"

The three of them sat in silence for a while. Thinking of the twins and their lost mother, the one they never knew. Harry had a sudden thought

"If they were in the country how come they didn't get a Hogwarts letter?"

"Ah, their mother took care of that. She asked me not to send one unless she was in contact with me and I knew she had the twins. Obviously when she died, I knew they wouldn't be able to let their magic loose, so I didn't send the letter. To be honest I forgot all about them, there was no point dwelling on the situation. All that mattered was their safety, and they were safe as long as they were thought to be normal"

There was no more to be said about the twins, but their minds stayed with them.

"Can I have my magic back now?" Draco asked, suddenly impatient, he hated this feeling of emptiness.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry Draco. The situation is slightly more complicated than I first thought. When the pendant holds 2 peoples magic inside it both parties must be present for the spell to work. It would be fatal to you if I tried it with only you. There is such a thing as too much magic Draco" Dumbledore laughed then, trying to make the situation more light hearted but Draco's eyes were stormy grey and he was extremely pissed.

"We will cast the spell as soon as Willow and Alex return. For now do not worry yourself" and with that he stood, nodded his farewell and walked out of the hospital wing.

"So that's it? He's leaving me totally defenseless?" Draco choked this out, holding back a sob "He's just going to leave me-"

Harry had crawled over to Draco and was wrapping him in a tight hug. He was stroking his hair and whispering comforting words into his ear.

"Its OK Drake" he whispered "I'll look after you, I promise"

Draco hugged him tighter and relaxed against his body, trying to find some happiness in the moment because he knew as soon as they parted he'd be thinking about Alex and Willow, and his own situation again.

Harry pulled away from the hug slightly to look at Draco, his eyes were glistening with unshed tears. One trickled down his cheek but it didn't get very far as Harry kissed it away and left a trail of kisses down the side of his face, finishing at his lips.

Draco captured Harry in a deep and passionate kiss, and when it was over Draco looked up at Harry and ran a finger softly down his cheek and tipping his chin up slightly.

"I love you Harry" he breathed. It was barely audible, but Harry heard it and grinned broadly.

"And I love you too Draco" he replied before leaning down to kiss him again. He couldn't believe he'd waited so long...

"_God I'm an arse" _was the final thought before both of them were lost in each others touch.

* * *

**Well hello! Is it longer? i think its longer! hehe, so fun. **

**Next chapter: A party in the dorm, pansy, Blaise and Ron and Hermione get suspicious, Hedwig brings some bad news and Hermione gets the surprise of her life. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Must dash, hands are cold and i need to go out. **

**Laterz dudes **

**From the super cool emo shiremanizu dude xxxxxxxxxxx**


	12. Just thought you'd like to know

**Chapter 11- Just thought you'd like to know...**

"We need to move"

"Not yet, a few more minutes"

"But they'll be here soon what if they-"

Draco didn't care. All he cared about was making sure he and Harry were lying there for as long as they could before they were interrupted. That's why, to shut Harry up he kissed him roughly and mumbled:

"Do be quiet, otherwise I shall have to pin you down and close that hole of yours for you"

"Is that a threat?"

"Threat? Never, more like a proposition..."

They were lying on Draco's bed in their private dorm waiting for their friends to turn up.

Harry had arranged for Hermione and Ron to come down to spend some time with him and Draco had invited Blaise to talk about Quidditch...that was the initial idea anyway, Blaise had told Pansy who had invited herself along.

So their dorm was going to be pretty full, hopefully the separate houses would ignore each other rather than bicker.

It had been nearly a week and a half since Draco and Harry had finally got their acts together and given in to temptation. Draco was instantly better after that and had discharged himself from the hospital wing so he could be with Harry more often.

Harry had apologized to Draco properly about not showing him the letters and showed him every single one he had received.

The twins we still not found and everyone was becoming increasingly concerned. They had been without a proper meal now for an extremely long time and things were beginning to get desperate. Harry and Draco had gone up to see Dumbledore on numerous occasions to try and get him to let them help, to no avail. He was adamant that Draco should not leave the school, especially now he was unarmed and vulnerable.

They understood this but were becoming increasingly frustrated.

But they had each other to help them forget things for a few hours a day. They spent their time working out other ways for Draco to get his magic back or any kind of defensive spell he could do with his wand that would at least protect him but there was nothing that they had found so far.

They sometimes just spent hours talking in their room, kissing and lying together for comfort being happy to be in the others company. It was no surprise that only after a week they had already slept together at least twice.

They would send private little notes in classes that Harry would charm so no one else could read them. Draco, obviously, never had much to do in classes and so busied himself with staring at Harry, who was quite blatantly staring back.

It was difficult to be together without people suspecting they were even friends. The amount of times they had nearly been caught was steadily growing to a number beyond all reckoning and everyone had noticed that the pair were acting weirdly nowadays, always seeming starry eyed, smiling (a rare trait for the Slytherin), and generally being in good moods. Hermione and Ron had noticed that Harry was always avoiding questions, running around looking flushed or aggravated. They would knock on his room door and they would hear bangs and shouts before Harry managed to stagger to the door looking ruffled and very pink. Draco would always be sitting on his bed reading, looking amused or just ignoring them all.

Blaise and the rest of Draco's house had noticed him staring into space, not concentrating and generally being out of it 24/7. They put it down to the depression of losing his magic to unknown causes (no one had obviously been told the real reason) and never even considered the fact that he was hopelessly in love. Ah, the narrow mindedness of Slytherins!

So the past week and a half was spent sneaking around their friends and teachers, finding small amounts of time where ever they could to see each other between classes and trying their best not to think about Alex and Willow.

* * *

Hermione and Ron were spending the last few minutes before leaving to get to Harry's dorm curled up on the sofa in front of the fire. They were discussing the weirdness of their friend and deciding what could be wrong. 

At the same time in the dungeons, Blaise and Pansy were unknowingly doing the exact same thing about Draco.

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Pansy asked, fiddling with the leather chairs

"I don't know, I expected him to be in a foul mood about this magic thing but he just seems kinda, I dunno, quietly ecstatic."

------------------------

"Its odd" Hermione said to Ron, "He isn't his usual self"

"I know, he hardly ever wants to go and fly with me anymore. Im starting to feel slightly neglected" Ron sighed

"He just isn't our Harry"

------------------------

"Well you're right there, he isn't acting like Draco at all" Blaise replied motioning with his hands, "I think we need to snap him out of it. Throw something cold over him. That should do it"

"No, its more than that. He barely notices now when I speak to him. This is going to take more than a cold bucket of water"

"He never noticed when you spoke to him before, Pans"

------------------------

"Maybe the Twins thing is getting to him, I know he misses them" Hermione added

"I think its Malfoy, he's always been a prat. Now he has Harry all to himself who knows what he's been doing to him in that dorm. They shouldn't be left alone together, its against the rule of nature"

------------------------

"I think its Potter, you know they hate each other. It cruel to put them in the same dorm. Alone."

------------------------

"I don't think its Malfoy you know Ron. Or at least, I don't think he's being a prat anyway"

"What else could it be"

"I have a feeling it goes deeper than just what's on the surface. I think there is more than what we see or what we WANT to see"

"What? You think Harry and Malfoy are friends or something?" Ron said narrowing his eyes

------------------------

"I don't think its Potter. Draco wouldn't bother to care"

"Maybe they are having illicit relations" Blaise snorted and rolled off the sofa in a fit of giggles

"Blaise that's gross don't joke about things like that"

------------------------

"Harry would tell us" Ron laughed nervously "He hates Malfoy"

"Maybe he doesn't anymore" Hermione added regretfully

------------------------

"Draco would be constantly Bitching, you know what he's like. It cant be anything to do with the Gryffindor Scum" Pansy sniffed checking her perfect nails before going back to picking at the leather

"Ah but he has been slacking recently...even his father has noticed..." Blaise replied, remembering the bit of paper he found in between Draco's notes

------------------------

"But it fits Ron, as much as we hate it! Every time we mention him he runs off, or avoids the question. He hasn't said a bad word about him in so long. Don't you see? He doesn't want to tell us because he's scared of our reaction"

"No Herm, stop RIGHT there. I have had enough of this conversation already. Harry and Malfoy are NOT friends ok? Lets just leave it at that. We have to get going now anyway"

------------------------

"Well...they must have been spending a lot of time together recently. Ew, what if they're like...friends or something"

Blaise cackled and replied with "Pansy you really are dumb. Come on, we're gunna be late. Malfoy and Potter, friends! Now I've heard it all!"

And with that, both parties left their dorms and headed for the Potter/Malfoy territory.

* * *

"Oh Merlin you're joking?" 

"No, I'm happy to say I'm not. They were found along the railway track some miles down. Im amazed how well they have kept themselves."

Dumbledore's head had appeared in the fireplace, luckily, some minutes after the pair had finally unstuck themselves from each other. Harry would have hated to explain what they had been doing to their headmaster, of all people.

"So they're safe? They're OK?" Draco was grinning from ear to ear. The news was fantastic. Forget Quidditch, there was going to be a party instead.

"They are safe Mr. Malfoy, malnourished as you can imagine, but safe"

There was a knock at the door then, and Hermione and Ron strolled into the room.

"I shall leave you all to your business, I'm sure you have a lot to be getting on with" and Dumbledore winked as his head disappeared out of the fireplace.

"What was all that about?" Ron asked, settling himself in a chair by Harry's bed, blatantly ignoring Draco.

"The Twins" Harry smiled, "They found them!"

"Oh that's wonderful!" Hermione replied happily, squeezing next to Ron

"That's right Gryffindorks, so no boring old talking tonight. We have some celebrating to do! Draco had been rummaging in a cupboard by his bed and had produced a few bottles of Fire Whisky. He handed one to Harry who took it and then he offered one to Ron who stared at it as if it was from another world altogether

"What? You expect me to take this from you? You of all people are handing me a bottle of God Knows What and you expect me to willingly drink it-"

"Shut up Ron" Harry laughed as Draco dropped the bottle in Ron's lap and stalked off to get some more out of his store.

Blaise and Pansy turned up soon after and by then Ron had loosened up and was much less hostile. So much so both houses were able to have a good night, celebrating together (even though Blaise and Pansy had no clue WHAT they were celebrating).

By the end of the night, nearing 1am, Ron was nicely drunk and was carted back to his dorm by Hermione who was slightly tipsy herself.

Blaise and Pansy stayed a while longer and chatted to Draco while Harry went and had a shower. Blaise was slaughtered but the rest were relatively sober. They left when Blaise had passed out for the third time in the middle of a sentence and Pansy had began to drag him out of the door.

Just as it shut behind them Harry emerged from the bathroom.

"Nice timing" Draco smiled turning from the door to look at Harry

"I was listening at the door to make sure they left" Harry chuckled walking over to the bed and standing next to it looking for his night things "I don't fancy being attacked by drunk Slytherins when I'm only wearing a towel"

Which is exactly what he was wearing, and a short one at that. Water was sliding down off his hair onto his body and he was dripping over the carpet, but that wasn't why Draco gulped and began taking deep breaths to calm himself. Harry half naked always did this to him. Hell! HARRY always did this to him!

"They wont murder you, you know" he managed to reply

"You didn't see the looks Zabini was sending me"

Draco had suddenly remembered that Harry was his!

"_What Luck!"_ he mused to himself, inwardly grinning

With this realization he automatically got up and walked steadily over to where Harry was, still in his towel dripping wet. He stopped behind him and snaked his arms around his waist and had begun kissing his neck, licking off any stray water droplets that happened to get in his way.

"You know..." Harry carried on, but turned in Draco's arms to face him "Going on recent trends you should be wary of Blaise. From my experience Slytherins who send me death glares and hate me have a habit of seducing me when I'm vulnerable"

Draco snorted but didn't stop and moved upwards to capture Harry's lips in a bruising kiss.

"I don't like this towel on you. Its too green, too Slytherin" Draco commented when the kiss ended, running his fingers along the hem and lightly stroking Harry's stomach in the process

"Ah, but I could be considered half Slytherin now"

"HA! You? Slytherin? Never!"

"Im serious! I was nearly put in Slytherin you know, but I asked the Sorting Hat not to" Harry remembered and suddenly regretted that decision for the first time in his life. He had been missing out BIG TIME!

Draco just gave him a questioning look, half smiling and pushed Harry backwards onto the bed. He climbed on top of him but before he leant in for another kiss he donned a thoughtful expression and said:

"I was nearly put in Hufflepuff you know. But the Sorting Hat was scared of the Mortality Rate"

Harry just shook his head and pulled Draco down to wipe that silly smirk off his features.

Harry's hands travelled up Draco's shirt and reached a point where he was able to pull it over his head.

"MmmMMmm!" Draco tried to speak but also trying not to bite Harry's tongue at the same time which made speaking impossible.

Harry pulled away

"Eh?"

"I said 'Hang on, shirt!'" Draco repeated pulling it over his head and not waiting for a response from Harry before continuing.

Draco shuffled into a better position on top of Harry then, and rested his weight gently on him as his hands travelled over his torso and shoulders. Harry's hand tangled itself in his blonde locks and the other fell to his jean buttons which were now slowly being undone.

Draco meanwhile was putting Harry's earlobe to good use, something which made Harry squirm. He pulled away when Harry made a noise of protest and looked at him

"Still not liking the tow-UMPH!"

Harry flipped Draco onto his back and slid the tight trousers over his hips, making sure to let his fingers trail softly over his thigh. Draco shivered and wound his legs around Harry's waist as soon as they were free.

"Yours first. Then mine" Harry grinned as his hands slid into the waistband of his black boxers and over his bare hips. Draco untangled his legs and let Harry tease the fabric off in the same fashion he had his jeans.

Draco's clothes were now piled at the end of the bed and Harry liked them there!

"Now yours" Draco growled and he attacked the towel, ripping it off in one quick movement. In the same movement Harry kissed Draco with an intensity that frightened him. He had missed the point where Draco had become something he NEEDED rather than something he wanted.

Harry took in Draco's appearance, his hair, his flushed cheeks, his defined chest and arm muscles and his erection that stood proudly waiting to be seen to. He was waiting patiently enough but Harry could tell he was nearing the desperate stage. He had to ask though, for his own sanity. Draco could wait a few more seconds. Any longer and Harry himself would be fit to burst.

"How do you know when you go from wanting someone to needing them?"

Draco swallowed and smiled faintly

"When you can be this close to the thing you want, and know that's its where you are needed most."

Harry couldn't decide if that was MEANT as a hint or Draco knew he was being clever by being cute and giving a hint at the same time.

"OK I get the hint, answer the question properly later"

Draco smiled "Hint? What hint?"

* * *

Hermione and Ron took nearly 45 minutes getting up to the Tower undetected. Mainly due to the fact they were both misinterpreting the volume of their voices and were continually whispering louder than they intended to. 

It was early morning now, and despite the fact she had had an extremely late drunken evening she was still awake at the crack of dawn, working, as always.

She was sitting by the window watching through the misted window, the tiny Hufflepuff figures sweep quickly across the Quidditch field. She laughed to herself:

"_Whoever came up with the idea that beating Gryffindor meant getting up to train before even the teachers were up was loopy" _

She placed her book down on the window sill and was about to get up when Hedwig landed outside and began tapping at the glass.

She opened the window and she flew past her, bringing a cold gust of wind with her.

Hermione watched as the snowy owl fluttered about the common room frantically, a small envelope attached to her leg. She caught the bird carefully and calmed her before looking at the note.

It was addressed to Harry and had the word URGENT plastered across the front, in bold letters. It looked like Lupin's handwriting.

The only thing Hermione thought of as she rushed down to find Harry in his dorm was the twins and hoped against hope they were still safe.

* * *

Harry smiled lazily to himself as he felt consciousness dawn on him that morning. He could smell Draco, hear Draco, feel Draco, taste Draco...all he needed to do was open an eye and he would be able to see Draco. Draco, Draco, Draco. He was flooding his senses like he did every morning and that was something that gave Harry the high he had been on ever since they had gotten together. He knew once Draco was gone, like he was going to be one day, he wouldn't be able to get up without feeling that same high everyday. Draco made his world go round. 

He sighed and shuffled closer into Draco's embrace, wanting more of his warmth and hoping that they would never have to move. It was, after all, a Saturday.

"Stop fidgeting, if you get any closer you'll be squashing me" Draco mumbled into the pillow wrapping his free arm around Harry and locking them together even tighter.

Harry just grunted and nuzzled into Draco's neck.

They lay like that for a few minutes longer until Draco gave up on sleep and began to rub Harry's back gently to try and wake him.

"Mmmm" Harry grunted in reply to Draco's massage. This spurred him on and he slid from Harry's arms and straddled his back, still rubbing his back firmly with his fingers.

"You need to loosen up"

"Isn't that what EVERYONE says when they are giving someone a back rub?"

Draco didn't reply, he had moved to kissing Harry's back instead of rubbing it and Harry decided this was what he much preferred.

Harry was enjoying this wake up call so much he didn't hear the door slam open, and neither did Draco. They both mindlessly carried on, and it was only when Harry turned over and leant up to kiss Draco properly did he hear a muffled "Oh my god! I'm so sorry Malfoy-"

Harry Mmmmm!ed into the kiss and Draco broke away and turned around, trying to protect the view of Harry. Draco knew who it was, he knew they had been caught.

"Its uh OK Granger. Just uh...leave now? Maybe?" he called over his shoulder

"I really am sorry, but I need to give this to Harry. Its from Lupin. Its Urgent. Do you know where he is?"

Hermione couldn't see Harry, and so assumed that Draco was with some random Slytherin. Draco looked at Harry and both were deciding whether to give themselves up for the letter or get it later and hope Hermione went away. The latter was looking good when Hermione made the wrong decision for them.

"I'll just leave it here, its REALLY important it gets to him though, I read it on the way down. I don't have time to find him and tell him, I'm going to see Dumbledore...just make sure he gets it...SOON!" she walked across the room, around the side of the bed, making a point of not to look at who Draco was with or what they were doing so she could put the letter on the table. Both Harry and Draco instantly shouted "NO!" which made Hermione look up in shock.

Upon seeing Harry pinned underneath Draco her face seemed to go colourless in seconds. She stopped moving and all embarrassment of walking in on Draco was gone, turned into total shock at walking in on her worst enemy and her best friend.

"Wha..."

"Ohhh, um...hi...Herm" Harry swallowed hard. He was suddenly very well aware of his nakedness underneath the sheet and that it was pretty damn obvious what they were up to since neither had a shirt on and there was a huge red mark on Harry's chest. Not to mention the fact Draco was straddling him and Hermione had caught Draco kissing someone. Now that someone was Harry, and Hermione didn't look pleased. He realized he still had a hand on Draco's chest and he quickly removed it and covered his face with it. Draco was as lost for words as the others were. He was still sitting on Harry, pinning him to the bed and he was just glad the sheet was covering them both so well.

"Please either of you tell me I'm hallucinating" Hermione choked out, barely at a whisper.

Silence.

"No? Neither of you are denying it then?"

Still silence.

"I...have to get out of here. I cant...I need some air...or something"

Hermione dropped the letter and began walking back towards the door. Harry couldn't let her leave like this, he had to say something in his defense.

He began to shuffle into a sitting position and when Draco had rolled off him he jumped out of the bed, taking the sheet for his dignity, and managed to make it to the door before Hermione could walk out.

"Wait, don't...let me just-"

"Don't say you need to explain Harry, don't insult my intelligence by lying or trying to worm your way out of this"

"I wasn't going to! I-"

"You are a liar Harry. You lied to your best friends. Of all people, you lied to us." She looked down at his sheet covered form, noticing the marks on his body, the sticky mess on the lower part of his stomach. She hated him at that moment, but not as much as she hated Draco. He had taken her Harry away, he had been so quiet and distant the past few months and she couldn't work out why. And now it all fitted. She couldn't understand why she didn't see it, see the looks they sent each other, the notes they passed, the time they spent. It was all too much new information making sense all at once. "I mean, I kinda guessed you didn't hate each other anymore, but THIS? This is just..."

"I...I didn't-"

"Just don't Harry. Don't speak to me for a while"

She made a move to get round him but he blocked her path, still looking for something to say.

"I wanted to tell you" he managed to say "I did. I- really...I didn't know what I wanted. We haven't been together long. Only two weeks really..."

"Harry, save the details"

"No you HAVE to listen to me" he shouted, becoming agitated. Draco had found his boxers in the mean time and was now beside Harry at the door, comforting him and standing up for him. He clasped his hand in his own and this seemed to give Harry the energy to carry on.

"I didn't think it was fair to tell you, I thought that I could tell you when the twins came home. It was for the best Herm!"

"Maybe you thought so, but the truth is you lied. You chose him over us. Our enemy Harry, someone we HATE. Someone who has made our lives hell, and now...now you're just going to forget what he called me, what he said to Ron, all the things he did? What is it Harry? Please tell me its just great sex and nothing else...please...I can deal with that"

"I cant say that" Harry replied quietly, looking at the floor and feeling Draco's hand tighten "I wont say that because it isn't true. You want the truth? Here it is, I love him. And I haven't forgotten what he did, but I can forgive Hermione."

Hermione snorted in contempt and pushed past them both out into the hallway. She turned as she was about to leave and said:

"The Twins were taken, by the way. Death Eaters caught up with the Order just after we received their owl last night. Just thought you'd like to know"

And she stormed off down the corridor leaving Draco to console Harry, any way he knew how.

* * *

**Hello hello! I was drunk and forgot to update.....sorry. Only a day late! No one can hit me. **

**Tell me if this was just totally corny and i shud just do it again. And confusing, was the Hermione/Ron, Blaise/Pansy thing too much? Buh oh well...**

**OK well i havent quite finished the next chapter yet _cowers _but i know whats happening so i can give you a hint. We go back to Alex and Willow for a bit, then i was being harrassed to write so the next bit is a bit rushed but we are following the Order again and something kinda BAD happens, Harry and Draco have to make a quick decision but they leave a memory of themselves for everyone to find.**

**DADA! wonderful eh? this is all coming to an end unfortunately, only 5 more chapters. OK so quite a bit left. **

**Thank you for my reviews. i love you all! **

**Jesus im tired. Oh well, SHOPPING 2morro!!**

**Later dudes xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	13. Out on Their Own

**Chapter 12- Out On Their Own**

"Wil! Wil!"

Alex was leaning over his sister, worry lines covering his forehead.

"Please wake up Wil"

Willow had stopped moving nearly 2 hours ago, her limbs frozen and pale from the lack of any kind of warmth for so long preventing her blood from circulating properly.

"PLEASE WIL!" he begged, shaking his sister violently.

He rolled her onto her back and listened for any sign of life. When he caught the sound of her shallow breathing he relaxed slightly but he knew that if they were ag for them. The hiding had gone on long enough, to save his sister they would have to be found. They couldn't see the end of their journey and Alex was beginning to believe they would both starve before they reached home.

So far they had avoided lighting fires, they drew attention and left ashes which would be found and set people on their trail. So now, in desperation Alex left his sister wrapped up in as many things as they had to keep warm and set about making the biggest fire he could.

So far they had avoided lighting fires, they drew attention and left ashes which would be found and set people on their trail. So now, in desperation Alex left his sister wrapped up in as many things as they had to keep warm and set about making the biggest fire he could.

* * *

The Order noticed the signal before the Death Eaters did. Lupin had the fortune of spotting the faint streak of smoke spiraling into the clouds in the distance some way along the track, and pointed it out to the rest of the Order.

They wasted no time in tracking it down and finding the twins huddled together, frighteningly thin and shivering from the cold.

The fire was put out, Willow was healed as best as they could manage without a substantial amount of magic, and they set out back along the tracks, back to Hogwarts and back to safety.

They travelled at night, not wanting to be found by the Death Eaters who were tracking them. Apparation was out of the question, their magic would be tracked and they could be followed and found in no time.

While they journeyed, they explained to the Twins the danger they were in, and everything that had happened since they had left. Lupin reassured them that they were welcome at the castle and weren't causing any unnecessary problems to anyone before they left.

Of course, the Order had no way of knowing about the pendants or the Twins hidden magic, and so couldn't explain any of the more recent events.

The finally reached the end of the track 2 days after they began, and decided that it would probably be safer to apparate with the twins to the edge of Hogwarts grounds rather than walk openly in Hogsmeade. News travels fast after all.

The one thing they couldn't avoid was sending an owl to Dumbledore to tell him of their arrival. So to avoid it being intercepted, they made the decision to address it to Harry, from Lupin and write it in code.

_Harry,_

_I found what you have been asking me to look for. It took me a while, but I found it. I shall be coming to the castle to return it tomorrow afternoon at the latest. Be sure to tell Dumbledore so he does not continue his search. Im sure he will be very pleased. _

_Send a reply to let me know if this will be possible._

_In reply to your last owl, Everything is fine. I am very well._

_See you soon_

_Lupin _

The owl they sent it with was instructed to take it to Dumbledore, even if it was addressed to Harry.

They then sat and waited for Dumbledore's reply, which came just one short hour later. All that was written was _I look forward to your visit _in his very neat, italic script.

They packed up, well fed and rested and were about ready to carry on to a suitable Apparation point when there was a cry from behind them.

Death eaters had surrounded them while they waited, and no one had noticed. Not one member of the order had spotted anything unusual.

Every member of the order fought their hardest. Many died. All of it was in vain.

The Twins were seized, just an hour and a half after they had sent the owl to Dumbledore telling him of the Twins safety.

Just five members of the Order survived out of 30.

To Lupin, it seemed as if the war had already begun.

* * *

It was three days later, that both Harry and Draco were finally called to a meeting in Dumbledore's office.

Harry was in a state. He knew of the damage done to the order, he knew of the Twins capture, and he knew that this was only the beginning of the war.

Draco was slightly calmer than Harry, but was still extremely shaken. Both boys were both relieved at Snape and Lupin's escape from danger. Draco was thanking whatever god there was that Harry didn't have to lose another close relative, he wasn't sure if he would have been able to take it. Draco was scared of what Harry was capable of.

Not only did they have the Twins to worry about but they also had Hermione and Ron to take care of. Hermione had told Ron about what she had seen, and he was livid.

He stormed straight down to their dorm demanding to be told that Hermione was lying. When neither denied what Hermione had told him he punched Draco and hadn't spoken to anyone since. He locked himself in his dorm, refusing to even let Neville, Dean or Seamus in to get their things.

This had just caused Harry more distress and Draco had a hard time convincing him that everything would work itself out eventually.

Harry managed to calm himself with the help of Draco and was attempting to speak to Hermione or Ron the next day, unfortunately they were still pretty pissed.

"Thank Merlin they have the sense not to tell anyone else" Harry had said to Draco the night before the order were due back.

"Mmmm" Draco sighed, fiddling with a lock of raven hair that had fallen into Harry's face as they lay in a chair together by the fire "How do we know they wont?"

"I know Ron and Hermione. They know why we haven't told anyone, it's the fact we didn't tell them that's the problem" Harry replied bitterly

There was silence on the Gryffindor side of the room at meals for those three days, and Slytherin were loving it. Every Slytherin except one, who watched a certain Gryffindor from across the room, eat quickly, without glancing up once. He watched him finish his meal, and noiselessly slip from the Great Hall.

Two pairs of eyes noticed the Slytherin follow him out, and narrowed in suspicion, wondering how the saviour of the wizarding world could love the person that could quite easily and willingly betray him to his enemy. They weren't going to stand by and watch THAT happen.

* * *

The meeting was a kind of stress release for Harry. The moment he saw Lupin standing by Dumbledore's desk he threw himself at him and began jabbering about how frightened and sorry he was.

The remaining few were brought up to date with events. They were told about the Pendants, the loss of Draco's magic and more importantly that Alex and Willow weren't who they originally thought they were.

They were then told about how the Twins were taken by groups of Death Eaters, and the whole room agreed that they must have been tipped off by someone or something.

Probably both.

"We decided to follow them after they had thought us to be mostly defeated" Lupin explained "We needed to know where they were headed, but I think they knew they were being followed"

"I have a suspicion they wanted us to follow them. They kept in plain sight and never wandered too far. Something is going on"

Draco laughed quietly to himself "They want me to turn up of course"

"Yes well..." Snape sneered "That's something that wont be happening"

Draco knew better than to argue with Snape and so kept quiet, but in his head he was fuming. They kept him here, unarmed, unable to do anything to help and he was more than a little frustrated. He was desperate for his magic back and at this moment in time no one else bar Harry seemed bothered about getting it for him.

"_If they wont do it, I will" _he thought to himself as the meeting carried on. He would need Harry's help, but together they would get his magic and the Twins safely back to Hogwarts, no matter what the cost.

"They took the Twins to Malfoy Manor, we couldn't get closer than the gates but we know they're there" Lupin had continued, not noticing Draco's lack of attention, but this comment stirred him and he sat up and shuffled in his seat.

Harry smiled at him and brushed his hand lightly with his own, trying to be discrete and understanding at the same time. Draco smiled back and looked at Lupin who was explaining why they were sure of the Twins whereabouts.

"...Only trouble is we don't know WHERE in the manor they are being held, the gates are as far as we got. If only-"

"There is a secret room, for special captives only. Highest room, tallest tower kinda stuff" Draco sighed, obviously bored.

Dumbledore looked pleased and Harry could tell the others were relieved to have Draco on their side, even if they weren't sure if they could trust him implicitly.

"That's really cheesy you know" Harry whispered to Draco as the banter continued

"I know that, I'm glad my father doesn't. I certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell him. He'd murder me for reading fairy tales, let alone muggle ones!"

The meeting came to a close soon after. It was decided the Order would regroup, pack more supplies and devise a plan to save the Twins to enable them to attack at the soonest possible time. It wasn't soon enough for Harry or Draco.

They went to their dorm afterwards, hoping for a bit of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, when they arrived they found Ron and Hermione sitting together on Harry's (old) bed, waiting for their return.

"Come to knock ME back to reality this time Ron?" Harry snarled, slamming the door behind him. Ron only frowned and got up.

"No, I want to talk to you. Alone."

"And Hermione came because..."

"WE want to talk to you alone"

"So what you mean to say is 'Draco sod off'. Is that it?" Harry was angry, he thought that his best friends of all people would stand by him and understand. He thought wrong.

"Its ok Harry, I have some things I need to do anyway" Draco sighed softly into his ear

"I'll be back a bit later, we can talk then. I have something I need to ask you"

Harry watched Draco exit the room, and when he was gone, he turned to his friends.

"Happy?"

"Ecstatic" Ron smirked

"Lets get this over with"

Harry sat on Draco's bed facing Ron and Hermione and waited to hear what they had to say.

"We haven't come to apologize if that's what you were thinking" Ron began, somewhat abruptly

"No shit"

Hermione scowled and stood up. "Harry we don't want Malfoy coming between our friendship, we may not approve but we're still your friends-"

"Really? I hadn't noticed. I missed the part where friends throw a hissy fit every time they find out you're seeing someone THEY don't approve of and ignore you for a days on end" Harry was quite calm, leaning back on his hands on the bed.

"No, we throw a hissy fit, Harry, when we find you shagging our ENEMY who just happens to be MALE and is a Deatheater for crying out loud!" Hermione yelled

"So the problem is that I'm gay? Well WHY didn't you say so? We could have had this out a long time ago in that case"

"No harry, we don't care that you're gay. We're just upset that you lied to us about it"

"I didn't lie"

"What so you just forgot to mention it?"

"It was on my to do list"

There was silence for a second or two before Ron exploded

"To do list?! Harry, surely number one on your list of priorities is to tell your two best friends and, oh, maybe the people who are TRYING to look out for you that you've taken a liking to the Dark side. It may have changed a few things around here! Or did you just forget that part?"

"Ron...what are you talking about? Draco isn't-"

Did Draco want his private business told to Hermione and Ron? Harry was sure he could trust them but Draco didn't at all. If Draco wanted them to know, he'd tell them.

"Draco isn't what, Harry? Isn't a Deatheater? Even if he wasn't, we know for a fact his father is! Harry, seeing Malfoy is dangerous! For all you know he could just be using you, how do you know-"

Harry cut Hermione off mid speech

"Don't! Hermione, just Don't! You know sod all about it! You don't know half of what I know so just leave it! You both take me for some kind of pathetic innocent who needs protecting at all hours of the day like Im going to just turn to dust any second. Im sick of it! I just wanted a little support of my friends, but seeing as I cant have that I may as well not try with anyone else."

"No Harry, no one is going to accept this. No one. My advise to you is to just forget about all this until Voldemort is defeated, only after that can you be sure of anyone's motives. I don't trust Malfoy as far as I can throw him, and I know there was a time when you felt the same" Hermione frowned walking over to Harry and placing a calming hand on his heaving shoulder

"If only you knew Herm..." Harry replied in a whisper, shaking his head "you'll understand eventually, I just hope by then it isn't too late"

"If we don't understand Harry then make us!"

"It isn't for me to say"

Ron stood and grabbed Hermione by the arm "Come on, he obviously isn't in the talking mood. He'd rather protect his Deatheater boyfriend than tell his friends the truth-"

"Get the FUCK OUT!!" Harry screamed pointing at the door "Get out Ron before I do something stupid!"

Ron seemed taken aback by his friends sudden outburst, but anger soon took over and he glared dangerously at him before being pulled out of the room by a red faced Hermione.

Once they had left Harry collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, wondering what the hell he had just done. He went over and over in his head what he should have said, and what he should have done but nothing made more sense than being with Draco.

Draco walked in just after he had come to this conclusion, which was in fact perfect timing and before Draco had time to say anything Harry was hugging him as tightly as he could.

"Not go too well then I take it?"

"Its not fair Draco, why cant everyone just be happy?"

"Im happy" Draco replied softly, stroking Harry's hair and enjoying his warmth

"No you're not, you have no magic, you have a maniac for a father who would rather use you for power and glory rather than have you as a son, no one trusts you here except me, your friends are just as evil and power mad as your father is, you-"

"Im well aware of my faults Harry" Draco sighed letting Harry go and dropping onto the bed "but I'm still happy. I have lots of reasons to be happy. Im in a place I love, with someone I love, I may not be trusted by everyone but I'm trusted by the people that count, I don't have to spend my life bowing down to some loony like I thought I was going to have to, plus I'm all set to be the hero of the wizarding world along side the famous Harry Potter. If you really think about it my life cant get much better!"

Harry smiled and chuckled. "Its not all its cracked up to be you know"

"Im sure I'll live"

Harry joined Draco and held him close, there would be a time soon when they couldn't do this and so he would savour these moments for now.

"You said there was something you wanted to talk about" Harry said after a few moments of silence, listening to each other breathe as if it was the most calming thing in the world.

"I was thinking" Draco began "aren't you really bored of sitting around waiting for something to happen?"

"Yeah of course I am, but there's nothing else we can do." Harry sighed and buried his face in Draco's side

"What if we left to find the twins. Now. Tonight. I can get us to Malfoy Manor no problem. I know all the secrets of that place. We can get in, and leave before anyone even knows we're there"

Harry closed his eyes tightly and thought about the stupidity of that comment, but as much as he knew it was a bad idea he couldn't help but think that maybe Draco had a point. What was the point of sitting around waiting? If trouble was going to come, Harry wanted it to come sooner rather than later. And Draco was so desperate for his magic, Harry wanted so badly to help him and he knew Draco would do anything to help him if he were in the same position.

"Tell me if you think I'm being thick Harry, but I'm serious. I know its dangerous and everything but I really believe we can do it"

"I think we can too, its just- well... you cant help me if we get into trouble..." Harry replied softly pushing himself up and looking into Draco's silvery orbs.

"Hopefully, I'll have my magic back long before that happens"

They looked at each other for a minute, just looking, until Harry broke the silence

"And if you don't?"

Draco sighed

"I can fight Harry, I know I look weak but trust me I'm not"

Harry just smirked in a knowing way and lay back beside Draco.

"So, we just leave? Now? Get to Malfoy manor, get inside, find the Twins, get your magic...then what?"

"We get out as fast as humanly possible"

"Sounds like fun"

Draco cocked his head down to look at Harry and he couldn't help but smile at his completely trusting face.

"You really want to do this?" Harry asked

"You don't, cant, understand how much I need my magic back. If we wait I think I might go insane or something. Plus I'm bored of waiting for these poofters to get their act together, the sooner something happens the better. The longer we wait, the more danger the twins are in. Besides..." Draco shuffled down slightly "I wanted to smirk at my father once more before someone kills him, preferably me"

Harry chuckled and pushed Draco away from him

"Better get moving then Mr. Malfoy, we have a long journey ahead of us!" Harry mocked, knowing full well they'd be apperating.

Draco seemed stunned

"What? You...its ok?"

Harry leant down and kissed Draco gently, cupping his chin with his hand. When he released him, he looked deep into his eyes and smiled

"If I don't go with you, you'll probably end up going alone and do you honestly think I'm going to let you do that?"

Draco kissed him again, roughly this time and for longer, thanking him for just being Harry.

"One thing though" Harry said pulling away "I insist we do ONE thing before we leave. Don't ask me why, I just have a very strong urge to do this, and you cant say no since I'm going SUCH a long way JUST for you and I'm leaving all my friends and safety-"

"OK OK!" Draco laughed standing up with Harry

"Great!" He yelled "I'll go get Colin. Wont be long"

Draco's smile fell. Colin Creevey?

"_What the fuck did I just agree to?"_ he thought as Harry darted out of the room and down the corridor.

* * *

**I am soooooooo sorry its late. Its just I'm a bit behind now what with college and other things...like my life. **

**No one kill me just yet. I don't know when I'll be updating the next chapters but the dates are gunna be a bit crazy. I'll try and get them up SUPER quick but I've had a few more ideas for song fics and one shots as well and I wanna jot them down before I forget them and stuff. **

**Nehoo, I think we get a general idea of what's going to happen in the next chapter, I cant really do summaries anymore coz it will give WAAAY too much away. And no Harry and Draco do not get into Porno before you ask. **

**Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed. Tell me why I get more reviews when they sleep together. Out of interest....**

**THAT was amusing! You perverts you! Keep it up tho, I'm not complaining!**

**Lady of Death- Yes Ron and Hermione are Arses, as you can see... I always hate it when Hermione is like the understanding one and Ron is angry but gets over it. I wanted them to both be total pricks coz to be honest no one wants to hear about them....**

**demongirl12000- what are you suggesting? Are you saying you DON'T want to see a naked Draco?!? BLASPHEMY!!!(kinda) Lol! Madwoman!**

**Later dudes xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	14. No Going Back

**Chapter 13- No going back**

Harry and Draco were outside the Manor just a few short hours later. It was nearing midnight and the house looked nearly invisible in the darkness. Harry only knew it was there from the darker than black silhouette that ghosted the horizon.

"So, we're here...what now?" He asked, hoping that Draco had some idea of how they were going to get inside the Manor.

"Follow me" was the answer he got and he felt Draco's hand find his in the darkness. He grabbed onto it, as if for safety, and he followed the sound of his footsteps crunching on the ground beneath them.

They walked for what seemed like hours, through a thick forest it seemed but it was only a small wood. Harry had scraped nearly every inch of skin on tree branches that had hung in his way and he was starting to wonder where the hell they were.

Just as he was about to tell Draco to stop, he did. They were stood at the back of the castle, on top of a large hill that enabled you to see the whole of the back grounds of the Manor.

Harry was in awe of the place. The grounds stretched for miles, beautifully laid out gardens that reached right across the great expanse of land they were stood in front of, looking down on. He had never seen anything quite so beautiful in all his life.

In one corner of the Manors grounds was a darker patch of land, it looked like a graveyard but a smaller one that usual.

The Manor stood in the center of the gardens, surrounded in crawling plants and tall trees that protected and hid the Manor from the outside world. Harry thought the manor would be very hard to find if you didn't know what you were looking for. It was magnificent, but frightening.

"We get in this way" Draco whispered, pulling Harry down a slope towards the castle. They came across a small shack that was leaning against an old oak tree at the bottom of the slope, it looked ancient and Harry didn't like the odds of him coming out alive. But nevertheless Draco pulled him inside.

It creaked and groaned from the effort of trying to stay upright when Draco flung the door wide, and stepped onto the wooded floor. In front of them was a trap door, and that was all that Harry could see inside the small shed. It was completely plain and had no signs that anyone even knew it was here. It continued to creak, beginning to sway as Draco moved across the floor and bent to lift the trap door open.

"Draco, are you sure this is safe?"

"Trust me Harry, I'm the only one who knows this is here, and I've placed an innumerable amount of charms on it to make sure it doesn't cave in. We're totally safe"

Harry reluctantly stepped forward, wand at the ready and followed Draco into the hole in the floor. He dropped down into a small cavern that led onto a tunnel. A dim light was coming from a candle that burnt slowly on the wall next to them and Harry turned to see Draco grinning at him.

"What?"

"Saviour of the Wizarding world? Please! Scared of a wooden shack of all things!"

"Shut it you!" Draco just laughed quietly

"You remember the spell right?"

Harry nodded and mouthed the words_ "Expedio solvo" _quietly to himself while waving his wand over an imaginary object.

"Remember you have to hold hands" Harry reminded Draco, wanting this to work as badly as Draco did.

Draco took his hand once more, and continued to lead Harry down a narrow passageway that curved twice before Harry saw any sign that it was coming to an end. But it didn't end, it just became thinner and thinner and before long they were crawling through the dirt.

Draco stopped a few minutes later and began to burrow upwards, his hair was matted with dirt, his clothes were covered with mud but he didn't seem to care. Harry guessed Draco never liked to use this tunnel much as a kid and he smiled to himself. Typical Draco. He moved several items from above him and then Harry could see a tiny room.

Harry was led out of the tunnel and he found himself crawling out of a hole in what felt like a wooden box.

"We're in my wardrobe so be quiet, I have no idea who could be in my room" Draco warned, as he helped Harry out of the hole and brushed the dirt off of him.

"Had to choose the dirtiest route did we Drake?"

"Nah, I felt like making you crawl" Harry scowled at him and elbowed him lightly

"I'd have thought it would have been better protected" Harry whispered to Draco "anyone can get in here!"

"Nearer the outer walls it is" he replied "My father liked to walk in the grounds on occasions so he made sure the security was good enough on the outer edges of the grounds. He doesn't expect anyone to get past the walls to be honest"

"But that entrance we went in is outside the walls"

"I told you! I put charms on it; no one can see it but me."

Harry really did admire Draco's ability to make any charm work for him. Draco was the most brilliant Wizard Harry had ever met, but without his magic, Harry knew Draco felt like he had nothing.

Draco peered through the gap between the wardrobe doors, looking for any sign that someone was there, listening for any sign that they had been caught.

When nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary Draco carefully stepped from the wardrobe and out into the darkened room.

His room was just as breathtaking as the manor itself. Lavishly decorated in Slytherin green, it eked wealth and arrogance. Harry could have guessed that Lucius decorated it even before they stepped out into the room from the expensive smell, but he could just faintly make out the smell of vanilla and coffee that reminded him so much of Draco.

Harry smoothed the soft fabric on the green covered bed and made a mental note to ask Draco what material it was later and get some for his own bed.

"Nice isn't it?" Draco grinned when he noticed Harry touching the bed covers with such care and gentleness "Mother chose it"

Harry gave Draco a sympathetic look and smiled slightly. Draco just shrugged and carried on

"We have to keep moving. We'll be found otherwise. We have to get nearer to the place where I think the twins are which means using stairs"

"Do you know where everyone is?"

"I would think that everyone would be in bed around now since its 10 to midnight" he replied as he peered around the bedroom door

"Ah" Harry replied, keeping close behind as they crept from the room and into the shadows of Malfoy Manor "wont be needing my invisibility cloak then?"

Draco paused and looked at Harry

"You know, telling me you've brought it now kinda defeats the object..."

"Wanted to make you crawl" Harry smirked as Draco frowned and grabbed the material from Harry's hands spitefully

"Smug fucker" he mumbled as they were both lost under the protection of the cloak.

* * *

"I think we're jinxed you know" 

"Don't be stupid"

"No really, we have to be. We stumble upon some magical world while doing something we shouldn't, we decide to run away-"

"That was our fault-"

"-we run away and nearly get killed, but we get found again and NOW look where we are! Some sodding castle in the middle of no where with a bunch of smelly people in black cloaks and hoods!"

"We aren't jinxed, we're just stupid"

"OK that too"

Willow was pacing the room they had been placed in days before, with Alex watching her circle him time after time. He was starting to feel a little nauseous but didn't say anything.

"Well we cant just STAY here! If Remus was coming to get us he'd have been here by now"

"Willow, I don't really think many of them survived"

Willow stopped pacing and slumped on the floor next to her brother.

"We've ruined everything" she whimpered into her hands. Alex put his arm around her and sighed. He'd seen the massacre, he didn't have to be a wizard to know when people were dead.

"We have to get out Alex, I bet mum and Dad are doing their nut!"

Alex smiled at that thought, he knew they had been probably thought of as dead for many weeks now so he was surprised that Willow was being so naïve.

But nevertheless she was right, they had to get out. He didn't know what their captives were waiting for but he knew if it didn't happen soon they would be killed.

He got up and faced the door. He was guessing there would be a few spells on the door so he was wary when he stepped closer and examined the lock.

Just like any other lock. Easy to pick.

He placed a hand gently on the knob and ran his fingers slowly round to hold it fully. When nothing happened he turned it roughly and pulled. It was locked as he'd expected, but at least he could touch it without being thrown across the room.

He reached into his pocket while Willow watched him intently, hoping he knew what he was doing. When he found what he was looking for he pulled it out and inspected it. A tiny hair pin sat in his palm, slightly bent, but perfect for his needs. He knelt in front of the door, not expecting any result. What idiot just locks the door? There had to be some kind of spell to prevent them escaping. But after a few seconds of picking the lock, the door clicked loudly.

Alex blinked. He got up and turned the handle once more, this time when he pulled the door opened revealing the long corridor they had been dragged down.

He blinked again and turned to his sister.

She was just as amazed as he was.

"What now?" she asked, coming to stand next to him in the door frame.

"I don't really know. I think I remember coming up some stairs. We can just get lost in this place for a while and figure out a way to get a message to someone. Its better than staying here waiting to be killed"

Willow agreed and they left their room, closing the door behind them, and made their way towards the stairs, keeping in the shadows of the corridor.

They found the stairs just minutes later and began to descend, being careful not to make a noise, and keeping against the rough stone of the wall behind them.

Alex was still expecting a spell to leap out at them from some hidden place, just waiting for them to try and escape, but none came.

Roughly half way down the stairs he became more confident, and moved faster making sure that Willow was always close behind him.

It was when he hit an invisible wall did he nearly lose his composure and confidence, and it was difficult not to cry out. Willow hid behind her brother, waiting for hoards of hooded figures to come running at the slightest noise, but it was exactly midnight and all sound was drowned out by the loud chiming of the clocks around the house.

All Alex heard was a soft "Shit!" followed by rustles of cloth against cloth, but all he could see was air. He reached out to touch the wall again, and found a fabric caressing his fingers.

"Odd" he thought as he grasped the fabric and the rustling became more frantic. Just as it began to pull away from him he pulled roughly on it and revealed Harry and Draco huddled together in the darkness.

Harry had his wand pointed menacingly at Alex who just stared back in amazement, while Draco had hidden behind Harry for defense. They obviously hadn't realized who they had bumped into due to the darkness of the manor.

"Harry, its us!" Alex whispered at him grabbing his wand hand and pushing it forcefully away from his face

"oh god I swear they think I'm stupid" Harry mumbled to the trembling figure behind him and replaced his wand at the bridge of Alex's nose.

"Uh...Harry? What are you doing?"

"Uh...saving my skin" he replied sarcastically

Alex was very confused

"Harry, haven't you come to get us?" Willow asked, sounding a little distressed

"No we came for Alex and Willow. And you're coming along." Harry said spinning Alex to face his sister and prodding the wand into his back while grabbing Willow by the shoulder and forcing them to walk back up the stairs.

"Harry have you gone insane? We ARE Alex and Willow!" Alex hissed over his shoulder

"Yeah, and you're also the dumbarse that wasn't told I know about Polyjuice"

"Poly WHAT?"

"Um, Harry I think they're telling the truth"

Harry stopped and looked at Draco who stood at the top of the stairs staring into a door he had opened while Harry had taken Alex and Willow under control of his wand.

He pushed them towards it and looked in. Nothing.

"He would have kept them here; he only keeps prisoners that he wants to be found in the dungeons. This place is for special people, people that can't be found. It has to be them Harry"

"We picked the lock" Willow added

"I picked it, you just watched" Alex sneered back

Willow just rolled her eyes and looked back at Harry

"It is us Harry, honest"

Harry seemed to falter for a second, frowning and concentrating deep on Willows eyes before he lowered his wand and smiled.

"Well that was pretty damn easy wasn't it? Let's get out of here, as much as I like your home Draco I don't want to stay here much longer"

They descended the stairs, Alex and Willow in front under protection of the cloak just in case and Harry and Draco keeping watch from behind.

"You read her mind didn't you?" Draco asked as they rounded a corner and came in view of a large set of oak doors.

"I had other way of knowing, I wasn't going to believe them on their word alone" Harry reasoned, feeling bad for the invasion of privacy but at the same time knowing he had done the right thing.

"I know, but you're a sneaky bastard" Draco grinned checking his surroundings again

They reached the oak doors and he looked both ways, checking each corridor was clear before he let anyone move on. They had been OK up till now but this time he looked nervous.

"What is it?" Harry whispered

"I can hear something" he replied, looking down the corridor on their right "Come on behind here"

Harry and Draco slid behind a statue on their left and hoped the twins had found a place to hide, despite the fact they were well hidden anyway. They stayed still and waited, hoping what Draco had heard was nothing more than the wind outside but some minutes later just as Draco was preparing to tell Harry they could move on, a man appeared from the oak doors. He flung them open dramatically, stepping into the corridor with an air of power around him. He was followed by several others who didn't seem to have the same confidence, who shuffled behind and stayed low.

"It's Lucius" Draco murmured into Harry's ear as they swept past the statue "They've all been called"

Harry watched as they disappeared into the darkness, they were surrounded and engulfed by it until all he could see was Lucius' stark blonde hair in the distance.

Then someone sneezed.

In the far corner by the doors Alex and Willow had decided was the best place to be. They weren't counting on the doors being swung open so forcefully that they hit the wooden ornament next to them causing an avalanche of dust to rain down on them.

Willow had held the sneeze as long as she could. It wasn't quite long enough.

The blonde speck in the distance of the long corridor stopped abruptly and spun round.

Harry held his breath and shut his eyes, willing for Lucius to turn back and keep going. He waited, listened, and opened one eye.

Lucius had moved up the corridor, his eyes sweeping every inch of the space he could see. He kept his tall form perfectly still but Harry could see his dark eyes searching.

He knew they were there.

Draco didn't seem fazed by his fathers gaze, he was used to it Harry guessed. Draco carefully slid an arm round Harry's waist and pushed him further into the shadows behind the statue.

Lucius began to move slowly forwards, taking each step with extreme care, not making a sound with his feet as he inched towards their hiding place.

He raised a hand to just above his shoulder then, and made a quick movement, summoning one of the people from behind who had followed him out of the tall oak doors. They stood behind Lucius, as he addressed them:

"Go upstairs. Check the room"

Harry barely caught what was said before Lucius' head spun to face their exact spot.

He nearly fainted when he did that. The pure anger in Lucius' face was enough to frighten anyone into a coma for weeks. His eyes burned with pure fury, his brow etched with furious patterns of anger and concern. His fists balled at his sides, his teeth clenched, he spoke:

"Draco, I know you're here. I expected you. You're a fool to think I wouldn't catch you"

Lucius stepped forward once more, rounding their hiding place. Harry began to worry when he noticed this pattern, if he moved any further he would see Draco and take him. Just as Lucius stepped sideways once more Harry grabbed onto Draco's top and pulled him further into the shadows, as much as the limited space would allow.

"Stay...back" Harry breathed into his lovers ear. It wasn't even words. He just let the air around them shape his words to something plausible so that he wouldn't be heard in the silence of Malfoy Manor.

Draco shuffled back in response to this and Harry wrapped his arms around him as much for comfort as to save all the possible space.

"Its pointless to hide son" Lucius continued "I was ashamed when I found out you had deceived me, I thought I had a weak son. I guess you've proved me right. Cant even get out of your own house without being caught. It's a shame you came to save a lost cause Draco"

Draco let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes to concentrate on the warmth Harry was passing him, blocking out the words of his father

"I know you are here. You may as well come out. I know exactly where you are hiding" and Lucius took one more step sideways. He was now diagonal to the statue. There would be no more hiding once he took that last step. They were trapped.

Just as Lucius was about to step one last time, the messenger he had sent came running back along the corridor, panting and gasping for breath

"Gone. Taken. No one is up there"

This was the final straw for Lucius, the anger seemed to erupt inside of him and he drew out his wand and cast Crucio on the suspecting messenger.

Harry and Draco could only watch as he tortured the man, his writhing figure sent pangs of sympathy up Harry's spine and down again, knowing what that felt like and understanding the mind numbing, heart crushing pain that he must have felt.

The Twins never remembered seeing something quite so horrific in their lives, seeing a man twist and curl in pain while nothing seemed to be near him. They could hear cracking of bones, and the man could barely make a sound by the time Lucius withdrew his wand and replaced it back in his pocket. He went limp, and three men scuttled forwards to remove the lifeless form before Lucius.

"See what I do to the weak Draco?" Lucius announced returning his gaze to the statue they hid behind "You're a foolish boy to think you could return here and escape me. It was a stupid plan to try and rescue those Muggles, because now I have you right where I want you. Just like when you were a child, do you remember that Draco?"

Draco squeezed Harry's hand and took a shuddery breath. Obviously...he DID remember.

"Remember you hid in the exact same place? We were playing the same little game we are now. Wasn't that a fun day Draco?"

Harry could sense Draco's anger building as Lucius spoke, every word bringing old memories to the surface where they could breathe, grow...survive.

"You were a naughty little boy Draco. It's a shame your mother didn't have such a firm hand with you. I suspect you still have the scar, I made sure that you would"

Draco opened his eyes and looked up, shaking, at the statue they stood behind. Harry followed his gaze and noticed it was a warrior. It held a shield made of ivory and gold in one hand, and a long, sharp looking silvery blade in the other that seemed to glow in the darkness.

It frightened Harry just to look at it. Its face twisted in an evil scowl, menacing and terrifying to anyone. A guardian of the doors, and a faithful one.

Harry felt lightheaded from looking up at the large, burly statue and looked back at his feet, images swimming before his eyes. He nearly fell back as an image as clear as if he was there appeared in front of him. An image of Draco as a boy playing.

Then it was gone, quickly followed by another in succession. This was of Draco hiding behind this very statue, Lucius standing in the same place, across from them both.

This disappeared to be replaced by an image of the Statue turned to Draco, pinning him high up in the stone wall behind them, trapping him, hurting him.

A flashing image of Lucius' face appeared, cackling evilly as he tortured his young son.

The last image was longer, Harry saw the statue pull its blade up to Draco's face, teasing him with it as the young boy cried for help. The statue then swept the blade across Draco's stomach in one swift movement, and Harry nearly vomited as the blood of such a young boy spilled down the wall and onto the floor.

The images faded to black, and Harry looked up to see Draco bent nearly double, clutching his stomach and bracing himself against the wall beside them.

He saw that Lucius had taken that final step and his grin widened, they had been caught.

Neither boy was in any state to put up a fight when men surrounded them from all sides and dragged them out. The only thing Harry could do before being forced through the large oak doors was to send out a silent plea to the twins to get the hell away and to safety, before they were found as well.

Alex and Willow watched, as their only hope of escape were piled into the room.

"We should leave" Alex whispered once the corridor was once again empty "I know Harry wanted us to, I could hear him"

Willow was sobbing quietly, but managed to reply:

"We're going in there aren't we?"

Alex nodded, took his sisters hand and dragged her through the rapidly closing oak doors, awaiting what they would find on the other side.

Alex had a feeling he would regret not listening to Harry, but once the doors closed with a tremendous crash behind them, he also knew there was no going back.

* * *

**Im SOWWIE its late. Im getting lazy i know. Sorry for the really bad cliffie too...**

**Dunno when the next chapter will be finished....or started for that matter. I do alot at college now so hopefully soonish.**

**THANK U for all reviews. I love them all! Keep them coming!**

**Well must dash! toodles xxxxxxxx**


	15. Disappearing Act Part 1

**Chapter 14- Disappearing Act- PART 1**

Lupin awoke earlier than usual on a Saturday, but he didn't mind, he had lots to be getting on with before they left for Malfoy Manor the next day. He rose carefully, forgetting for a moment that he was alone in his bed, just like every other day since Sirius had died. As soon as he realized he turned his head to look at the emptiness and felt so alone he considered crawling back under the covers to wait for the war to all blow over, to wait for the time when he would never have to care again, for the time when nothing else mattered apart from his grief.

But, knowing what the consequences would be, he pulled himself up to go about his business. House elves brought him breakfast not long after he was dressed and when he had eaten he decided it would be a good idea to go and see Dumbledore and Snape.

He walked down stairs and along corridors only concentrating on the route ahead of him and trying desperately not to think of anything else. It was becoming more difficult as the months went by, to try and forget but holding onto the memory at the same time. Which is why he needed a distraction, and so when he came to Harry and Draco's door he stopped, and decided that maybe he would pop in to see if they needed anything.

He knocked twice, and when no answer came looked at his watch. It was nearly 8am, surely they would be up and about now, in time for breakfast. He knocked again, and when he heard nothing from inside he pushed open the door and stared into the room.

Beds were made, curtains drawn, sunlight pouring into the room from the large window filling it with a wonderful feeling of warmth and happiness.

But Harry and Draco were no where to be seen, he couldn't hear the shower in the other room, and he could see into Alex and Willows section which had been empty since the incident with the Pendant.

"_Maybe they went down to breakfast with the others and went with them to their dorms" _Lupin shrugged feeling stupid for expecting two enemies to spend the day together when they didn't have to. He smiled to himself and was about to close the door when something caught his eye. On the table over in the corner by one of the beds sat a large piece of parchment with something attached to it. There was no other paper laying around that he could see, and so this piece seemed slightly out of place in the unusually tidy room.

He left the door way and made his way over to the table, intending on just looking at the parchment to see what it was, and stopped just in front of it.

It was a note from Harry, and just from reading the first sentence he knew this wasn't going to be good.

_You are probably all wondering where we are at the moment since Draco and myself have disappeared without a trace. Well, this will hopefully explain it, that and a hell of a lot more as well. _

_As you can quite clearly see we aren't here, anywhere… we left last night to go and do our bit for this war. We have gone to Malfoy Manor to get the twins. We know its stupid and we know that it was dangerous, but none of you can understand how frustrating it was to just sit back here watching other people do my dirty work for me. Putting off the final Battle will only prevent the inevitable and I'd rather do it sooner rather than later. I'm sorry to be blunt but if I am meant to die I'd rather do it now when I'm happier than I've ever been than when everything has gone, everyone has either died or left me and I'm depressed and useless._

_That's the way I see it. Unless I do something now, less people will die because of me. _

_Another thing I guess I will have to explain, the reason I'm so happy: People have probably seen that me and Draco are quite close nowadays, well…its closer than probably everyone except Hermione and Ron knows. _

_I've gone for him too…he wants his magic back so badly, no one can understand how he's feeling, even me, but I think I understand better than most. _

_So I know this note will be pretty shocking, and its going to cause a lot of fuss but its happened, we've gone, together…and I don't advise you come after us. If all goes to plan we'll be back before you find this anyway. _

_If we're not I'm sorry. _

_Tell Hermione and Ron I love them, no matter what, and that I'm sorry for being a bad friend_

_Tell Lupin I love him too_

_I've left you all a little something, just to add insult to injury._

_Harry xxx_

Lupin looked to the next sheet and noticed it was a photograph. Harry and Draco were together, cast in shadow, arms wrapped around each other in a loving embrace and they looked so calm, peaceful, like there was nothing in the world that could split them apart. Harry's eyes were half closed, and Draco was looking at him was so much love in his eyes Lupin was finding it hard not to cry. He'd seen that look before, in Sirius' eyes. He took a deep breath and put the photograph back behind the parchment, rolled it up, and ran out of the room to find Dumbledore.

* * *

"We cant just LEAVE them there!" Snape bellowed, he was fuming, but Lupin was guessing he was more angry about the fact his worst enemy and his best pupil were together than them actually leaving.

"Of course not Severus! That is not what I am suggesting. They could come back at any time, and its best we wait and see rather than leaving to find they have already succeeded, they are smart boys Severus"

"You have too much confidence in them Dumbledore" Snape hissed through clenched teeth

"You're right, I do" and an angry silence descended on the office.

Lupin had gone straight to see Dumbledore after finding the note, and people were sent for left right and center. Snape was asked to come, as were the remaining few from the last trip. Hermione and Ron were also called and had only just entered when Snape had started to shout.

"Uh, what's going on?" Ron asked, looking around the office at the gathering of people and wondering what the hell had happened. The explanation of Harry and Draco's sudden departure to go and find the twins shocked them both, neither of them were expecting that!

"They haven't left to get the Twins!" Ron snorted "Don't you see? Malfoy has kidnapped Harry, taken him to Voldemort and has left this note to explain it all! Its all a big plot! We have to go and get him back before they kill him!"

"Don't talk about peoples loyalties until you're sure of all the facts, Mr. Weasley. Draco hasn't kidnapped anyone and I can assure you that if he says he's fallen for Potter-" at this remark Snape pulled a face and paused slightly before carrying on "-then he has. Myself and Draco are on your side so don't start throwing the blame around"

Ron looked slightly taken aback, Snape had started to advance towards him and was staring at him with a murderous glint in his eye. So much so Ron was backing away and pulling Hermione with him.

Hermione just wrenched her arm free of Ron's grasp and sighed

"I believe that the note is a real one, no one could copy Harry's scrawl" she smiled fondly at the photograph and looked back up at the group of people surrounding her "Besides, Harry may be trusting but he knows who to trust and who not to. I wish I could have just thought of that earlier and understood slightly better. Im not saying I trust Malfoy, but I am saying that I don't think he would take Harry to you-know-who. I think he really does love him"

There was another silence while people mulled over what had been said. Hermione was staring blankly at the photograph of the two boys holding tightly to one another, it was so genuine.

"If they left last night, and they HAVE got to the Twins, surely they would have been back long before now"

Dumbledore sighed and stood.

"Alright, if you are ready Lupin would you prefer to leave as soon as possible to find them?" Lupin nodded his agreement and so it was decided.

"We're going as well" Hermione cut in before anyone could leave the office

"I don't suppose there would be much point in arguing, very well. Lupin, if you're happy?"

Lupin nodded his agreement and so it was decided.

If Harry and Draco were alive, they were going to need all the help they could get!

* * *

**I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO amazingly sorry!**

**But…all this gd stuff has been happening… and…well… I'm just sorry! Lol!**

**I thought instead of finishing this chapter and leaving it even longer till I post, I'd post the first bit now. So here we are. Sorry its short. **

**I will try my very very hardest to get back on track after Feb, I have TONS of coursework to do atm and its all just catching up. You understand right?**

**Thank you to everyone again for reviews and keeping reading and not giving up…I give you extra big hugs and wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!**

**Hope you all had a good xmas by the way! I sure did! Lol!**

**Laterz dudes xxxxxxxxxxx**


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